U. S. DEPART) r OF AGRICULTURE, 

BUREAU OF ANINiAL INDUSTRY— Bulletin No. 81. 

£ XT A. D ME- 



157 
Uf57 



THE MILK SUPPLY 



OF 



BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND PHILADELPHIA. 



BY 



GEORGE M. WHITAKER, M. A., Sc. D., 

Dairy Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry . 





Class. 
Book. 



< r / 



/ 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

I 

BUREAU OF ANIMAL I NDUSTRY— Bulletin No. 81. 



A. D. MELVIN, D.V. S, Chief of Bureau. 



THE MILK SUPPLY 



OF 



BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND PHILADELPHIA 



BY 



GEORGE M. WHITAKER, M. A., Sc. D., 

Dairy Inspector , Bureau of Animal Industry . 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 
1905. 






OCT 20 1906 
ftofO. 



ft 






LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Bureau or Animal Industry, 

Washington, D. (7., December 2, 1905. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit the accompanying report on 
" The Milk Supply of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia," 
Avritten by George M. Whitaker, M. A., Sc. D., of this Bureau, and 
to recommend its publication as Bulletin No. 81 of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry series. 

Respectfully, A. D. Melvin, 

Chief of Bureau. 
Hon. James Wilson, Secretary.-. '.] 

Dy.— 65. 



CONTENTS 



Page. 

Part I. — The milk supply of Boston 7 

Extent of population supplied . 7 

Handling milk at Boston ., 7 

Statistics of shipment 9 

Per capita consumption 11 

System of payment 11 

Cans r 12 

Can stoppers 13 

Washing cans 15 

Conditions at the farms . 17 

Carrying milk from farm to cars 17 

Handling at the railroad station 19 

Milk cars 20 

Freight rates 21 

Milk routes 22 

A route in detail 23 

Another milk route 25 

The milk in the city 26 

At the railway station . 26 

The peddlers 27 

Description of a contractor's retail department 28 

Cream ... 29 

Official inspection and regulations 29 

Part II. — The milk supply of New York City 32 

Explanation of terms •_ 32 

Magnitude of the business 32 

Where the milk comes from . _ . 33 

Large dealers 34 

Comments of dealers and producers 35 

Milk on the farms 35 

Shipping stations or creameries -- 38 

Description 38 

Handling milk at the station 39 

Cars used for transporting milk 40 

Description of a milk route I '. - 41 

Freight rates 42 

Milk trains 44 

How run, time, distance, etc 44 

Arrival in the city - 45 

Handling milk in the city 45 

How the price is determined _ - 46 

Milk sanitation 47 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Part III. —The milk supply of Philadelphia 48 

Amount — Sources — Cars 48 

The cans 49 

Freight rates, and how paid 50 

Time of starting — Arrival 51 

The Philadelphia milk depots 52 

The Camden milk depot 53 

Receiving stations compared with those of Boston 53 

Places of the dealers 54 

Cans in relation to prices 55 

Shipping tags 55 

The Philadelphia Milk Exchange ' 56 

Bottling and storing depots : 56 

Rules for producers 56 

Use of ice 58 

General remarks on the milk business in the country 58 

Work of the Philadelphia Pediatric Society 58 

Description of a certified-milk dairy 61 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Fig. 1 . — Map showing the source of Boston's milk supply 8 

2. —Wooden plug used in the Boston milk can . 14 

3. — Map showing the source of New York's milk supply 41 

4. — Map showing the source of Philadelphia's milk supply 49 



THE MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND PHILADELPHIA. 

By George M. Whitaker, M. A., Sc. IX, 

Dairy Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry. 



PART I.— THE MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON. 



EXTENT OF POPULATION SUPPLIED. 



The milk supply of Boston really means the milk supply of what 
is locally known as the " Greater Boston." This includes at least 
nine municipalities, the population of which is as follows : 



Boston 560,000 

Cambridge 92, 000 

Somerville 61, 000 

Chelsea 34,000 

Maiden 33,000 

Everett 24, 000 



Brookline 20, 000 

Revere 10,t)00 

Winthrop 6, 000 



Total 840,000 



The territory supplied by the Boston milk system does not ex- 
actly conform to municipal lines, so that doubtless a part of the 
population in contiguous territory could also be properly added to 
the above. For example, one large wholesale establishment handling 
Boston milk does a considerable business in the near-by city of Lynn, 
which has a population of 68,000 and is not ordinarily included in 
Greater Boston. 

Probably we are not far out of the way in assuming that the Bos- 
ton milk supply reaches 900,000 people. Immediately about Boston 
and the several small towns and cities composing Greater Boston 
there are nine towns and cities, with 110,000 inhabitants: or, if Lynn 
is included, 178,000. Some of these places receive Boston milk. In 
many instances this territory is so thickly settled that the traveler, 
noticing the continuous line of houses, sees no division of one 
municipality from another. The number of cities and towns con- 
cerned has been overlooked by some writers on the question of the 
Boston milk supply, and has led to an exaggerated statement of the 
per capita consumption. 

HANDLING MILK AT BOSTON. 

From 80 to 85 per cent of the milk consumed in Greater Boston is 
transported by railroad and the remainder in wagons. In local no- 
menclature, " car milk " and " wagon milk " are common terms 



8 



BTJKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTKY. 



for these two classes of milk. Of the railroad milk, nearly all is 
handled by five wholesale houses that do business on a plan which 
seems to be peculiar to Boston. These large wholesalers are locally 
known as " contractors." They contract for and buy the milk in the 
country, lease railroad milk cars, manage the transportation to the 




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Fig. 1.— Map showing the source of Boston's milk supply. 

city, and sell most of their supplies to peddlers for distribution at 
retail. Originally the contractors did an exclusively wholesale busi- 
ness, but of late years there has been a growing tendency to branch 
out into the retail business. A part of this business was forced upon 
them by their being obliged to take retail routes on account of debts 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 



9 



for milk due them by the peddlers; but recently this retailing of 
milk has seemed to be more of a deliberate policy. A few large re- 
tailers buy their supplies direct from the farmers, but the greater por- 
tion of the business of buying and receiving is done by the contractors. 
These five large wholesale concerns, though technically entirely sepa- 
rate, have a common understanding and practice in many details of 
the business. One person is at the head of three of the corporations, 
and it may be said that three officials could practically determine 
any question of policy for the whole business were they so disposed. 

The cream supply of the city is not in such intimate connection 
with the milk business as is the case in Xew York. The contractors 
do a large cream business in connection with the milk trade, but 
much of the city cream comes from skimming stations entirely dis- 
tinct from the contractors' system of milk collection and trans- 
portation. Large quantities of cream come to the city from Maine 
creameries, which were established primarily for the manufacture 
of butter; but they have drifted entirely into the cream business, 
and this has grown to such proportions that it has become necessary 
greatly to enlarge their plants. Skimming stations have been es- 
tablished, and the whole of their attention is given to the collection 
and distribution of cream. 

The milk of the city is handled in 8^-quart cans, so that any use • 
of the word " can " in connection with the Boston business means 
8-J quarts, although many of the older cans are so battered that they 
do not hold over 8 quarts. 



STATISTICS OF SHIPMENT. 



MILK BKOUGHT IN BY THE RAILWAYS. 



For several years the contractors purchased an unlimited amount 
of milk from the producers on the agreement that they would pay the 
" milk " price for all that they could sell again and " butter value " 
for the surplus. Consequently the contractors reported to the farm- 
ers from month to month the amounts of their receipts and sales. 
The following table shows in round figures the magnitude of their 
business for a period of years : 

Number of cans of milk received at Boston for several years. 



Year. 


Received. 


Sold. 


Surplus. 


1891 


7,000,000 
9,000,000 
10,000,000 
11,000,000 
11,000,000 
10,000,000 
9,000,000 


6,000,000 
7,000,000 
8,000,000 
8,000,000 
9,000,000 
9,000,000 
8,000,000 


1.000,000 


1894 


2,000,000 


1896 


2.000,000 


1897 


3,000,000 


1899 


2,000,000 


1900 #. — - 

1901 


1,000,000 
1,000.000 







10699— No. 81—06- 



10 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

The table shows increasing receipts np to 1897, when the highest 
point was reached — 11,789,191 cans. Since then the receipts gradu- 
ally declined until 1901, when they were 9,886,303 cans. This reduction 
was not due so much to a decrease in sales or in milk consumption as to 
a decline in the surplus. The surplus in 1897 was 3,059,619 cans and 
in 1901 as low as 1,130,166 cans. The sales of milk for the five years 
from 1897 to 1901, inclusive, w T ere fairly uniform, ranging from 
8,975,538 cans in 1900 to 8,456,137 in 1901. These figures, while accu- 
rate, do not in all instances correctly show the growth of the busi- 
ness ; changes in the business of the contractors — such as, for instance, 
the buying out of competing peddlers — in some cases increased the 
figures, although no more milk was actually consumed. On the 
other hand, increased competition from outside dealers might lessen 
the contractors' business. 

In 1902, because the producers insisted on a new way of making 
settlement for surplus milk, the contractors quit reporting the amount 
of the business. In 1904 the State railroad commission required the 
railroads to report their receipts of milk to the board, and statistics 
were again available. But, for purposes of comparison, it should be 
remembered that the contractors reported only their own business, 
while now the roads report to the railroad commission all the milk 
transported by them, 

The following includes a report for nine months of receipts by the 
contractors in 1901-02: 

Cans. Cans. 

July 941, 652 j December 756. 707 

August 856,878 i January 813.077 

September 813,127 I February - 743,838 



October 846,368 

November 739,101 



March 875,340 



The next table shows the receipts for nine months in 1904-05 as 
reported by the railroads : 



Cans. 

July 1,112,345 

August..- 1,039,403 

September 1 , 002, 623 

October 968, 099 

November 931,653 



Cans. 

December '. 998, 768 

January 1, 016, 501 

February 942,122 

March 1 , 098, 041 



The percentage of milk brought in by the different railroads fluctu- 
ates from month to month, but is substantially as follows : 

Per cent. 

Boston and Maine 68 

New York, New Haven and Hartford 20 

Boston and Albany 12 

Total 100 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 11 

The amount of wagon milk entering into the Boston milk supply 
is entirely a matter of estimate. Some authorities estimate it to 
be one- fourth of the whole amount and others one-third. When the 
railroad milk amounts to 1,000,000 cans per month, the wagon milk 
probably ranges between 250,000 and 333,000 cans. Some of this 
milk is brought into the city by producers, and some is handled by 
middlemen, who buy their supplies from their neighbors and haul 
it to the city, where they sell it to hotels, restaurants, or retailers. 
Not much of this wagon milk is retailed in small quantities by those 
who haul it into the city. Most of it is brought into the city during 
the latter part of the night and is ready for the morning business. 
The wagons which transport this milk are not made specially for 
the business. Most of them have a canopy top. The cans are cov- 
ered by a canvas, under which a lantern may be placed in the winter 
to prevent freezing, or a cake of ice in the summer for cooling. This 
wagon milk is gradually decreasing in amount as the agricultural 
land about the city increases in value and is more profitably devoted 
to market gardening than to dairying. Most of the wagon milk that 
comes to the city is produced within a radius of 25 miles. 

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION. 

It is estimated that the contractors' receipts average 1,000,000 
cans per month, and that the wagon milk is 250,000 additional. 
On this basis we have 1,250,000 cans as a monthly supply, or 
10,625,000 quarts. This is 313,000 quarts per day, which, being di- 
vided among 900,000 (maximum estimate) people, would give 0.76 
pint per day per capita ; divided among 800,000 (minimum esti- 
mate), we have 0.86 pint per capita. Either figure is within reason. 

SYSTEM OF PAYMENT. 

The price which the contractors pay the producers for milk depends 
upon the distance that the milk must be transported. The city price 
being fixed, the following is the scale of discounts per can of 8-| 
quarts : 

Cents. 

For stations between 17 and 23 miles from Boston 6 

For stations between 23 and 36 miles from Boston 7 

For stations between 36 and 56 miles from Boston 8 

For stations between 56 and 76 miles from Boston 

And 1 cent more for each additional 20 miles. 

This discount includes not only the freight, but the expense of han- 
dling the milk and the contractors' profits. There are so many factors 
which affect the expense that the producer has no way of knowing 
exactly the cost of transportation alone. The cars are leased at a fixed 
rate by the year, and if a car is completely filled the cost of freight 



12 BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

per can is much less than when a car is only partly filled. Again, the 
contractors have ice houses at the largest shipping stations and fur- 
nish their own supplies in a large measure, reducing the cost of refrig- 
eration to a minimum. The inability of the producers to ascertain 
the contractors' profits and the exact cost of transportation sometimes 
causes discontent. 

We have alluded to the old-time method of settling for surplus 
milk by paying for its butter value and to the abandonment of this 
plan for another one. The change was brought about primarily by 
the influence of the producers' organization. When the producers 
complained of the old system, with its uncertainties and the oppor- 
tunity for distrust, and asked for a uniform price for all milk whether 
surplus or not, the contractors replied in effect that they would 
take their chances if the price was cut 2 cents per can. This was 
allowed by the producers, and this 2 cents is noAV spoken of as a 
" carrying charge." For instance, the Boston price of milk for the 
summer of 1905 was 37^ cents per can. To get at the figure which 
the farmer received, deduct from this 37^ cents the 2 cents for the 
" carrying charge " and also the proper discount, as shown above. 
The contractors also asked that the producers exert themselves to 
bring about more even production, so that the supply would be 
more uniform in quantity and the contractors be saved the large 
loss incident to paying for surplus milk that must be made into 
butter. After much thought this plan has been devised : Each pro- 
ducer, at the beginning of each six months price period, states the 
amount he intends to produce during the coming six months. If the 
total of the amounts exceeds the probable demand, each producer is 
cut down pro rata. Then it is understood that the price agreed upon 
for the period shall apply to that rating, with a range of one-sixth in 
either direction, and that the farmer shall be paid 1 cent less for all 
his shipments for each additional one-sixth variation. To illustrate : 
If a farmer is expected to produce 300 cans in any month, he can drop 
to 250 or increase to 350 and get the full price (37-J cents less the two 
discounts), but if he falls below 250 or runs over 350 he gets 1 cent 
less for all the milk he ships. When the next limit is passed the price 
on all his shipments drops another cent. 

CANS. 

The cans most used in the Boston milk business are made to con- 
tain 8-J quarts. The fraction is added so that there will surely be 2 
gallons when the cans become battered from hard usage. As Boston 
is the commercial center of New England, this style of can is gener- 
ally used in the smaller cities and towns of this section, although the 
Providence, R. L, can contains 10 quarts. These 8^-quart cans are 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 13 

convenient in loading a wagon or car, as the handle is on one side and 
one man can easily take two cans in each hand. They are also con- 
venient for the small producer, who can ship milk to the city, 
although his dairy produces but one can. These cans go into the car 
as they leave the dairy and at the terminal are turned over to the city 
dealer; hence they are convenient also at the city end of the line for 
delivering to the small grocer or restaurant keeper, who may not care 
to handle more than a can or two. Occasionally one may see on a 
milk train or about the depojt of some wholesaler a few of the New 
York 40-quart cans, which are used as carriers for milk for the con- 
tractors' own retail trade; but these cans are not popular among 
those who have to handle them after having been accustomed to 
the smaller cans. Some of the contractors are experimenting with a 
new-style can. It has somewhat the shape of the New York can, but 
has just 2Jr times the capacity of the regular cans — 21^ quarts. It is 
not so heavy as the 40-quart can, is more easily cleaned than the 8-J- 
quart can, and has a wider top. Some new cans, recently adopted 
experimentally to a limited extent contain 8^ quarts, but have a con- 
cave bottom, so that all the milk that drains down the sides, after the 
cans are emptied, settles at the center of the bottom of the can. This 
makes washing easier, as there are no corners to cause trouble. 

CAN STOPPERS. 

For years the stoppers of the cans have been wooden plugs. These 
have the advantage of sealing the can perfectly, for a tap with a 
hammer drives the plug in so tightly that the can is almost hermet- 
ically sealed. If there is need of piling up the cans in tiers, or 
" stacking " them, these wooden plugs make a firm and level surface 
for sustaining the tier and are not injured by the added weight. The 
convenience of this kind of stopper and the fact that it is the kind 
used in Boston has led to its adoption all over New England in the 
milk business of the other cities and towns. 

Modern knowledge of bacteriology and the effect of bacteria on 
milk, however, has shown the undesirability of such stoppers even 
Avhen apparently clean. In time they became so battered* and full 
of cracks that it is impossible to sterilize them. A stopper was 
taken from a shipping station where the stoppers were treated with 
steam so liberally that they had all the appearance of being fully 
sterilized. Any ordinary inspection would have passed it as being 
perfectly clean and dry. It was examined by the bacteriologist of 
the Dairy Division, who took scrapings from the end and from some 
of the cracks with a sharp knife, and from these made gelatin plates 
in the usual way. Although a dilution representing 0.0005 gram 
of wood was used, the plates were all liquefied by bacteria. This 



14 



BUEEAU OF ANTMAL INDUSTRY. 



indicated that the surface of the wood contained a large number of 
bacteria, the presence of which in milk would be undesirable. An- 
other stopper taken from an empty can in a milk car was a fair 
sample of many of the stoppers that are returned every hot summer 
day to the farmers for their wives to wash. The bacteriologist 
reported the ends of this stopper and the cracks to be completely 
covered with mold. The mold was removed from the end of the 
stopper by scraping, but the cracks were so thoroughly impregnated 
with molds that no examination of them was attempted. A drop 
of the first dilution added to a flask of sterile milk curdled the milk in 
twenty-four hours, with digestion and gas formation. The gelatin 
plates gave the following results per gram of wood : 

Bacteria digesting milk 2,760,000 

Bacteria producing gassy fermentation 680,000 

Remainder, mostly lactic-acid formers 52,240,000 




Total 55,680,000 

What happens to such stoppers in the hands of the farmer ? They 
receive treatment varying with the disposition of the farmers and 

their wives. In some cases 
the outside of the stopper 
is washed in the ordinary 
way of washing any uten- 
sil; in others the stoppers, 
after being washed, are 
placed in boiling water. In 
one instance an unusually 
neat woman was found who 
placed the stoppers in a 
kettle of water and boiled 
them. A stopper was taken 
from a clean dairy which seemed to be well managed. This was 
believed to have been given a little more thorough treatment than the 
average — certainly no worse, The stopper appeared absolutely clean 
and was dry. Gelatin plates were prepared in the usual way and the 
count showed a total of 90,000 bacteria per gram of wood — that is, 
the end wood which would come in contact with the milk. This 
stopper had been " scalded " and was probably as clean as it was 
possible to make it with ordinary farm accommodations. 

The board of health of the city of Holyoke, declaring that the 
wooden plugs are a source of filth and cause of sickness, has pro- 
hibited their use. The milk inspector of the city will not license 
persons to deal in milk unless this order is complied with. 

Figure 2 illustrates the characteristic wooden plug, or stopper, for 



Fig. 2. — Wooden plug used in the Boston milk can. 



MILK SUPPLY OP BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 15 

the typical Boston 8 -J-quart can. The milk contractors or wholesalers 
supplying the Boston market, realizing the undesirabiltiy of these 
stoppers from the sanitary standpoint, have experimented with several 
forms of tin covers. They are more costly than the wooden pings, 
and to prevent loss they are attached to the can by a short chain. 
These tin covers answer fairly well the purpose of presenting a leA^el 
top for convenience in piling up, or stacking; but they meet with 
general disfavor by the trade. There is a depression in the top to 
hold the ring to which the chain is attached. This catches dirt, which 
eventually finds its way into the milk. Tin covers do not fit the cans 
so tightly and firmly as do wooden plugs, hence there is more or less 
trouble from leakage. To obviate this some handlers of cans try to 
make the tin covers hold better by driving them on with a hammer, 
as they do the wooden plugs. This operation results in cracking the 
tin, and these cracks harbor dirt and sour milk, and the conditions 
are sometimes as bad as where the wooden plugs are used. Further- 
more, the covers dangling from chains are always in the way when 
emptying the cans. Tin covers with convex tops are impracticable 
in the case of 8^-quart cans, as they do not allow placing in stacks, or 
tiers. Such covers, however, are satisfactory on 40-quart cans. Some 
tin covers were found with a hole punched in the top and bottom to 
allow air to escape when placing the cover on the can. 

A year ago one might truthfully have written that the trend in 
Boston was toward the tin covers. They have so failed to win favor 
in the trade that now sentiment is changing the other way and the 
wooden plug is again most favored by the peddlers of milk. To 
render the use of the plugs less objectionable, some of the dealers 
are using parchment paper between the wood and the milk. A small 
sheet is placed over the top of the can when it is filled with milk 
and then the plug is driven into place. 

The newest thing in the Boston milk business is a recently invented 
machine for taking dents out of cans in a way that does not start the 
seams or crack the tinning. This device is of advantage from a 
sanitary standpoint, for it restores a smooth surface to the inside of 
the can, thus enabling it to be more readily cleaned. The -machine is 
of advantage financially to large dealers, for it adds half a pint on an 
average to the capacity of each can. 

WASHING. CANS. 

The cans used in the Boston milk business are usually washed at 
the farmers' homes. The empties are returned from the city without 
even being rinsed ; and when the producer takes them from the rail- 
road to his dairy, the washing frequently devolves on his wife or 
daughters, adding a considerable burden, while the work can not 



16 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

always be done thoroughly. Whether or not the contractors should 
return clean cans to the producers is a question which has been dis- 
cussed at the meetings of milk producers for many years. The con- 
tractors' side of the case has two points; the first is the expense. The 
contractors sa}^ that they are now obliged to keep about five cans for 
every can of milk shipped, to allow for the number going and coming 
to and from the country and for those held over by dealers and by 
farmers. As the empties received from the peddlers are loaded 
directly into the milk cars while the latter are standing at the milk 
stations for unloading, there is no time then for washing. In order to 
have them washed it would be necessary to retain them in the city 
twenty- four hours, thus necessitating another set of cans. The con- 
tractors claim that this would be an unnecessary and burdensome 
expense. They further claim that, no matter how clean a can may be 
washed in the city, it must be scalded and aired in the country before 
it is again fit to hold milk. They argue that if the farmers receive 
nicely cleaned cans they will be careless about the scalding and airing, 
and the milk will reach the city in much worse condition than it does 
at present. The farmers' side of the case is that washing cans belong- 
ing to the contractors is not a necessary incident of milk production ; 
that the work can better be done on a large scale by machinery and 
w T ith plenty of hot water and steam ; that sometimes cans are returned 
in a repulsively dirty condition, and that cans which have stood 
for days in a restaurant or grocery store, possibly used as slop cans 
during that time, are in a condition that the farmer should not 
be called on to remedy. Judging from stories told at some pro- 
ducers' meetings, cans containing restaurant slops, kerosene oil, and 
decaying masses of sour curd are very common. It should be stated, 
however, that most of the cans are returned quite promptly after 
they are emptied. One large shipper told the writer that although 
he thought all cans should be returned clean, he had no trouble with 
those which are exceptionally bad; if he had one which contained 
what would not readily rinse off, he simply declined to use it and 
returned it to tne contractors. A common sight about farmhouses, 
where milk production is a specialty, is a row of cans inverted on 
racks for airing after having been washed. 

A third factor, which is now coming prominently to the front, is 
the work of medical men and boards of health. These are alert for 
the improvement of the milk supply and call attention to faults 
in the milk situation. Conditions which were once considered good 
enough are now regarded as intolerable, owing to the information 
which modern bacteriological investigations have made available. 
The contractors admit, by implication at least, that conditions which 
formerly existed were not perfect. They are now experimenting 
with different kinds of cans and making other changes and improve- 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 17 

ments. For instance, with the can holding two and one-half times 
as much as the common 8^-quart can it is found that fewer are re- 
quired in proportion to the business done, and that these can readily 
be washed and sterilized before being returned to the fanners. It 
is also found that the milk comes to the city in better condition in 
these cans, furnishing a selfish argument for a gradual change in 
the system of returning dirty cans to the farmers. 

In September, 1905, the producers agreed to take one-half cent less 
per can if the contractors should return clean cans to them. 

condition's at the farms. 

Boston has no system of certified milk, and none of the large con- 
tractors make a specialty of milk of extra quality at extra prices; 
but several large producers who can control all the conditions of 
production sell milk above the average in percentage of fat and also 
in cleanliness, receiving an adequate price for such quality. Neither 
has Boston any large firm of wholesalers who can and will make 
exacting regulations. Still, the Boston contractors are watchful 
over their supply, and have a system of inspecting stables and of 
cautioning producers when bad conditions are found. The con- 
tractors do some educational work also in giving instructions as to 
the proper manner of caring for milk, especially as to the impor- 
tance of promptly removing it from the stable and cooling to at 
least 50° F., as the first half hour in the life of the milk is the most 
critical. The contractors require the producers to have an ice sup- 
ply, and in one instance a contractor gave each of his producers a 
thermometer. At meetings of boards of health the carelessness of 
the farmers in the care of the milk is a matter of emphatic criticism 
with much of truth in the statements, especially in view of the in- 
creasing information as to the way in which milk should be han- 
dled ; but, on the other hand, there are many intelligent, conscientious 
farmers who are painstaking and who produce a clean article. 

Further attention is given this subject under the heading " Official 
inspection" (pp. 29-31). 

CARRYING MILK FROM FARM TO CARS. 

The first step in the transportation of milk is from the farm to the 
railroad station. This work is usually done by the farmer. There 
are no wagons for transporting milk from farm to cars that are con- 
structed with the special idea of keeping the milk cool in summer and 
from freezing in the winter. Every conceivable kind of vehicle is 
used, from top carriages to very rickety wagons. In two instances 
the writer has seen wheelbarrows used. Often it is the daily duty of 

10(399— No. 81—06 3 



18 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

the fanner's boy to drive the load of milk to the railroad, and some- 
times the wife or daughter does this work. Average dairies produce 
from fifteen to twenty cans per day, which is not a large load. 

When the milk leaves the farm it is supposed to have been cooled 
down to about 50° F., the exception being morning's milk produced 
near the railroad, which is taken at once to the car. When placed 
on the wagon for transportation to the station, it is carefully covered 
with a horse blanket or piece of canvas. When the drive is a long 
one a cake of ice may be placed under the cover in the summer or a 
lighted lantern in the winter. The average length of haul where the 
farmer carries his own product to the railroad is 3 or 4 miles. Where 
the production is small and the producers live greater distances from 
the cars, one farmer frequently collects the milk for a number of his 
neighbors. The customary charge for such collection is 2 cents per 
can, although in some cases as high as 3 cents is paid if the route is a 
long one. 

When milk is taken to the station by a collector, although the affair 
has the semblance of a cooperative venture, the contractors exercise a 
supervision or control over the collection for the purpose of insuring 
reliable, punctual service, and warranting the collector enough perma- 
nent business to pay him for his labor and investment. He must have 
a strong wagon and good horses. As he must usually travel about 15 
miles a day, in all kinds of weather, seven days per week, and on all 
conditions of roads, he can not do much other work, and so he must be 
sure of getting enough from hauling the milk to pay him for keeping 
a team exclusively for this business. Furthermore, he must be a 
reliable man, who will surmount obstacles and be on time with his 
load, regardless of storms and bad roads. Sometimes the haul by 
wagons is as long as 10 miles, making 20 miles of travel for the round 
trip. At one railroad station the writer met a driver with load of 94 
cans. In the flush season the number is twice as large. He said 
that he collected from 32 dairies, which at that time were producing 
from 2 to 11 cans each per day. He lived 4 miles from the station, 
but had to drive 9 miles to take in all his dairies, making his daily 
trip about 13 miles. The milk leaves the farm at 6 or 7 o'clock in the 
morning, according to distance from station and from Boston. Where 
the start is much earlier, the milk of that morning is usually not taken. 

The temperature of the milk when it arrives at the railroad station 
is of some interest. The writer took the temperature of a number of 
lots of milk received at Barre Plains and Old Furnace, Mass., when 
the air temperature was 75° F., and found that it ranged from 62° to 
68°. One firm of contractors goes to the trouble of having the tem- 
perature of the milk from each dairy taken (morning and evening) 
by its agent at the railroad station, and the record sent to the city 
along with the milk. Kegular blanks are prepared on which the 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 



19 



number of the dairy is entered and against it the two temperatures. 
The following is the temperature record of the milk put on the car at 
Canaan, N. H., on the morning of August 17, 1901: 



o jr 


a Jf 


° F. 


° F. 


° F. 


54 


54 


56 


52 


58 


56 


56 


54 


54 


56 


58 


56 


58 


58 


46 


46 


54 


56 


58 


56 


54 


56 


52 


54 


52 


44 


44 


48 


48 


54 


52 


56 


54 


54 


52 



That morning's shipment from Fremont, N. H., was of the follow 
ing temperatures : 



o jp 


° F. 


o _p 


° F. 


o p> 


58 


54 


54 


56 


56 


56 


50 


50 


54 


54 


56 


51 


51 


58 


58 


58 


58 


59 


58 


56 


54 


56 


58 


58 


50 


58 


56 


50 


58 


58 


58 



















The temperatures of the shipments from Barrington were as fol- 
lows : 



° F. 


° F. 


° F. 


° F. 


o ^ 


°F. 


69 


57 


62 


62 


64 


63 


63 


58 


58 


48 


48 


56 


51 


44 


58 


58 


53 


56 


48 


62 


45 


64 


74 


52 


50 


67 


58 


52 


72 




54 


64 


64 


50 


66 




57 


50 




48 


60 





HANDLING AT THE RAILROAD STATION. 

Most lines of railroad over which milk is transported have at each 
station a raised platform near the track and level with the .car door. 
This platform is of varying size; perhaps 20 feet square is a fair 
average. In some cases a roof is built over it for the protection of 
men and milk. The farmers reach the station a few minutes before 
the train is due and unload the milk on the platform, or on the ground 
near where the train will stop when there is no platform. In all 
cases the farmers load the milk into the cars. In some feAV cases the 
arrangement of tracks and sidings is such that the milk has to be 
lifted from the ground and carried across one or more tracks. The 
milk seldom waits long at the station. It arrives just before the train, 
is quickly transferred from the farmers wagon to the railroad car, 



20 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

and does not have opportunity to be much affected by the weather if 
it started all right as to temperature and was properly covered in 
transit. 

Ordinarily when the farmers take the milk to the car they get the 
empty cans to carry home for the next day's supply. Sometimes 
these are thrown from the train to the platform or ground the pre- 
vious afternoon, when the milk car or train is making its outward 
run. Sometimes they ure unloaded on the inward run, in the morn- 
ing, before loading the full cans; then again, the empties are thrown 
from one door while the milk is loading into the other. Frequently 
the empty cans are tied in bunches so that a half dozen can be handled 
with one throw. These empty cans are, as a rule, unwashed, and on 
the farmer's return to his home, cleaning the cans is the first duty of 
those who do the work of the dairy. 

MILK CAES. 

Most of the milk shipped to the Boston market is transported in 
cars built especially for the business, which are peculiar to Boston. A 
small amount of milk is shipped by express on passenger trains ; some 
of this is for hospitals from selected dairies, and some is for small 
peddlers who buy direct from the producers. A further small 
amount is thus shipped from fancy dairies to some agent for distri- 
bution direct to customers who pay an extra price. A small amount 
of milk also comes into the city in refrigerator cars on fast freight 
trains, and a small amount is loaded into baggage cars on branch 
lines for reloading into the regular milk car at the junction point. 
But, speaking in a general way, practically all of the regular supply 
v is transported in the regulation milk cars, which are much alike on 
all the roads. The cars appear superficially much like common 
express cars, except that each one has a small window or two between 
the two side doors, and has the word " Milk " painted upon it. Occa- 
sionally one sees a car with a narrow door in the middle instead of a 
window. The cars have the usual end doors for the convenience of 
trainmen. Most of. the milk cars are 48 feet long, inside measure- 
ment. In the center is an office, usually 8 J by 9 feet. The office has 
two windows on each side, except in a few cases where there is a door. 
Each car has eight closets. These are 3J by 4 feet, and with two 
shelves, accommodating three tiers of cans. Each tier has 30 cans, 
and thus each closet holds 90 cans. This makes a closet capacity per 
car of 720 cans. There are two doors, 3J feet wide, opening to a 
space in each end of the car for receiving the cans, storing and break- 
ing ice, and doing the necessary work of handling cans. When the 
closets are full, some cans are placed on the open floor space. Nine 
hundred and sixty cans is the usual carload. 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, HEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 21 

There are some minor differences as to detail in different cars. 
For instance, on some roads the milk cupboards hold 105 cans each 
and the carload is 1,000 cans, or 8,500 quarts. But in a general way 
one car is a fair type of all of them. Years ago the railroads paid 
but little attention to the amount of milk carried in a car. The car 
was leased to the contractor, and no questions were asked as to the load 
that he put into it. More recently there has been a disposition to 
keep a supervision over the amount shipped. Formerly as high as 
1,400 cans were sometimes placed in a car without any fault being 
found. Now the roads require daily reports from station agents as 
to the amount loaded at their several stations each morning. If the 
load exceeds 960 or 1,000 cans (according to the road), the contractor 
is compelled to pay for an extra car. The contractors pay by the 
year for the cars, on varying plans, which makes it difficult to get at 
the exact cost of transportation. Further than this, a car starting 
50 miles from the city may run a quarter full a third of the way, 
half full a third of the distance, and completely full the last third 
of the trip, thus increasing the difficulty of computing the cost of 
transportation. If the contractor could put in 200 or 300 additional 
cans for a portion of the distance in time of flush production, it would 
be an advantage to him, but would greatly decrease the possibility of 
estimating accurately the cost of transportation. 

The contractors plan to have an ice house, when possible, at the vil- 
lage from which the car starts and located near the tracks. They fill 
this themselves and hence have a handy supply of ice at cost. When 
the car starts it has from 2 to 4 tons of ice, according to the length of 
run. The smaller amount is the more common. At a station where 
milk is received, it is loaded by the farmers into the open spaces at 
each end of the car, and on the run between stations the carmen (in 
the employ of the contractors) are kept busy packing these cans into 
the cupboards or closets, and, in the summer, breaking up the large 
cakes of ice and shoveling the pieces onto the cans and working it 
into the vacant spaces. When one of these closets is full the door is 
closed and kept so until the car reaches the city. In addition to the 
trainmen (two to each car) employed by the milk contractors, the 
railroad company sometimes has a special trainman besides those on 
duty in the passenger cars. The milk cars are piped for steam heat 
in winter. 

FREIGHT RATES. 

The Massachusetts statutes require that all freight rates shall be 
fair and proportionate, and that all shippers shall have equal advan- 
tages, and the law gives the railroad commissioners full power to fix 
rates for transporting milk. In practice this applies only to small 
shipments, for the large contractors are always able to reach some 



22 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

agreement with the railroads on car lots, and never appeal to the com- 
missioners; but there have been a number of interesting appeals to the 
latter by smaller shippers, their complaint being that discrimination 
was shown in favor of the large wholesale shippers by the system of 
leasing cars, and that the small shipper could not get milk iced in 
transit. The commissioners decided that it would be unjust to com- 
pel a railroad to run a fully equipped separate milk car to give a ship- 
per of 20 cans per day as good accommodations as the shipper of 1,000 
cans, but ordered some arrangement to be made between the railroad 
and the contractor by which the milk of the small shipper could go 
in the contractor's milk car. As a result, at a few stations milk 
tickets were sold by the railroad to the producer. These were 
received by the contractor with the understanding that the milk 
would be transported and properly cared for in his car. But the rate 
was considered too high and complaint was made to the commission, 
which entered into a careful computation of what might be assumed 
to be the cost to the contractors of transporting milk in car lots. To 
this was added a sum which the commission considered a fair and 
just increase for retail transportation, and ordered that this sum 
should be the retail rate for shipping milk. Then the milk producers 
asked for a retail rate from every station from which milk was 
shipped. This was opposed on the ground that the commission had 
no right to rule on hypothetical cases and could fix rates only where 
there was milk to be shipped. But the commission overruled this, 
and made rates as requested by the producers. Very little practical 
use, however, has been made of these rates. 

It should be understood that all this applies only to shipments 
originating in the State. Much of the milk coming to Boston is the 
subject of interstate commerce and under the jurisdiction of the 
Interstate Commerce Commission in case of dispute, rather than the 
State commission. 

MILK ROUTES. 

Forty-five to fifty milk cars, such as those already described, reach 
Boston every day. They are largely attached to passenger trains 
which run as slow accommodation trains and are popularly known as 
" milk trains," although they are on the regular time tables as ordi- 
nary passenger trains. In two instances the milk cars are run in 
special and exclusive trains. The cars leave the country terminals 
in time to reach the city soon after 10 o'clock a.m. In a general way 
it would be accurate to say that the cars start about 5 or 6 o'clock in 
the morning and are four or five hours on the road, but in some 
cases the cars start as late as 7 o'clock. The trains stop to pick up 
milk at stations along the road until they get within three-quarters of 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 23 

an hour to an hour of the city, so that milk is collected until 9 o'clock 
on some routes. Why the cars are run at this time instead of running 
in the night we do not know. 

The milk car, as a rule, brings to the city the milk of that morning 
and the previous night; but when the train leaves too early to make 
this convenient, or when the collector has to call too early in order to 
connect with the train, the milk of the previous day is shipped and 
the milk of that morning is held over. The aim in the Boston method 
of handling milk seems to be thorough icing rather than rushing it 
through to the consumer in the shortest possible time. 

Some of the contractors have butter factories and cheese factories 
in the country entirely separate from their milk business, but giving 
them control of extra milk for an emergency. Each of the contract- 
ors except one has a station on his route where any surplus can be 
left and where milk from the longer runs can be iced and left over- 
night, and from which extra milk can be taken in anticipation o£ an 
unusual demand. One collecting firm has two shipping stations 
patterned after the New York system, at which milk is received from 
the farmers in the latter's cans, clean cans returned, and milk paid for 
by weight. Here the milk is aerated, mixed, cooled, and canned. 

A notable exception to the system of running cars exists in the case 
of a milk car which leaves Gorham, Me., at 8 in the morning and 
reaches Rochester, N. H., too late to get into Boston in time for the 
usual sales; it remains in Rochester six hours and goes to the city on 
a fast freight in the night. Another exceptional car leaves Willi- 
mantic, Conn., at 3 p. m., and reaches Boston at 6, remaining on the 
track overnight for the early morning trade. 

A ROUTE IN DETAIL. 

The station at Northampton, Mass., is the starting place; time, 
5.50 in the morning. The train consists of a combination baggage 
car and smoker, a common passenger car, and a milk car with a few 
cans of cream and milk that came down from Keene, N. H., the pre- 
vious afternoon. In fourteen minutes we stop at Amherst to take 
on 20 cans of milk, and to leave a cake of ice and a few empty cans. 
In eight minutes more the train draws up at a flag station where 15 
cans are loaded from the station platform and several empties thrown 
out. The next stop is at Belchertown. Here eight one-horse wagons 
are hitched promiscuously to all kinds of available objects about the 
station; and 120 cans of milk are loaded, while the passengers are 
increased by one. Two or three miles farther on the train draws up 
at a highway crossing where there is a small platform and the usual 
shelter. Here nine single teams with common wagons are hitched 
to near-by fences and bushes, while the farmers quickly transfer 150 



24 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

cans of milk from the platform to the car. Among the drivers of the 
loams are three girls. It is now 6.35 and we have reached Bond- 
ville, where there is a repetition of the scenes at the previous station 
and about the same amount of milk loaded. The farmers have 
loaded the empty cans before the train arrived and some begin to 
drive away before the train leaves, reading their morning papers as 
their horses jog slowly along. 

Some 4 miles farther along we come to another crossing where a 
dozen teams are hitched by the roadside. Here 175 cans are trans- 
ferred from the shed to the train by the farmers, while the same num- 
ber of empties, tied in bunches of 10 each, are thrown from the other 
door of the car. This not being a regular stopping place for the 
trains other than this milk train, these empty cans were not left here 
the afternoon before. Just as the conductor is raising his hand to 
signal to start, a belated producer hurries his team to the platform, 
and has just time enough to put 8 cans (his day's product) on the 
train before it gets under headway. At Ware, an hour from North- 
ampton, we come to a manufacturing village, where there are more 
evidences of life and a few passengers board the train. Though 
there are no signs of milk production in the foreground, 100 cans of 
milk from near-by territory are taken on the train. At Gilbertville, 
about 4 miles beyond, one of the largest collections of farm wagons 
j^et seen is grouped about the station and the milk on the train is 
increased by 200 cans. 

As the train has been moving on, the men on the car have had all 
the work they could do between the stations in stowing the cans into 
the closets and packing broken ice about them. The little rooms 
have been filled and some cans have been stacked on the floor of the 
car with boards between the tiers of cans, while broken ice has been 
packed about them. The car is full. 

At New Braintree only a few milk wagons are in sight, and these 
are for the most part headed for home. This is accounted for by 
the fact that they have loaded their day's supply in a car which is 
standing on a siding. Our train backs up to this car and is coupled 
to it. The next station is Barre Plains, but the train takes no milk 
here. This is a junction and the shipments go to the city by another 
line, controlled by another contractor. It is now 8.30 and we are at 
Barre. About 50 cans are loaded at this station. As many more 
are put on the train at Colebrook. The section of country through 
which we are passing, including Barre, New Braintree, and con- 
tiguous towns, has the reputation of shipping more milk over the two 
lines than any area of similar size supplying the Boston market. At 
West Rutland there is a repetition .of scenes already reported — the 
characteristic milk platform and shelter, the group of wagons, and 
the loading of the cans. Here is noticed the first two-horse team 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 25 

seen on this ride. At this station is seen another belated farmer who 
barely gets his 7 cans of milk on the train before it starts. At Rut- 
land 61 cans are loaded, and 2 are set off bearing a pink slip held in 
place by the wooden stopper. This slip reads : " Sour — Returned." 
Each dairy has a number; these numbers are printed on gummed 
paper and supplied to the farmers, who are required to keep one glued 
to each wooden stopper. In this way the car men can keep track of the 
shipments from each dairy and correctly report the amount of milk. 
When sour milk is returned, the number on the can shows from what 
dairy it was taken. 

It may. be remarked that this return of sour milk is a cause of 
much dissatisfaction on the part of the farmers, who claim that when 
the milk is delivered at the station to the agent of the contractor 
their responsibility should cease. The contractors claim that milk 
should be delivered to them in good condition, but that the nature of 
milk is such that its condition can be determined only by premature 
souring; and that if a can or two of milk sours sooner than other 
milk kept under similar conditions that fact is proof of its having 
been originally delivered in an improper condition. The farmers 
retort that, even if the contractors' statement of an abstract proposi- 
tion is correct, the concrete application makes the contractor prose- 
cutor, judge, and jury, and gives the farmer no opportunity to sat- 
isfy himself of the correctness of the facts. 

Nine o'clock, and Muschopauge station is reached and 47 cans 
loaded and 4 with the pink slips set off. Five miles beyond, at 
Quinapoxet, 60 cans are loaded and 1 can of sour milk set off. Oak- 
dale is reached at 9.30. Here a two-horse team having 60 cans 
is driven alongside of the car and unloaded directly into the car, 
while about 20 cans are picked up from the station platform. At 
Berlin a dozen cans are added to our load, 17 at Hudson, 10 at Way- 
side Inn, and half a dozen at South Sudbury, which ends the taking 
on. This place is only 20 miles from Boston and is reached at 10.22. 

At Waltham, 10 miles from the city, 10 cans are left for some local 
dealer. At Cambridge three wagons are backed up to a milk shed 
and between 250 and 300 cans are unloaded, while a few pink-slip 
cans are placed on the car to go back into the country in the after- 
noon. A mile farther, and just before entering the passenger sta- 
tion, the train stops and the milk cars are disconnected. We move 
on to the station, while a switching engine takes the milk cars to one 
of the milk-receiving stations. The run of 105 miles has been made 
in five hours and twenty minutes. 

ANOTHER MILK ROUTE. 

This is a different kind of route, and the ride over a portion of 
it may be described as follows: We reach the station of the rail- 
10699— No. 81—06 1 



26 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

road at Wilton, N. H., about 7.30 a. m. A milk car is on the siding 
and a procession of teams stands in line, each farmer waiting his 
turn to reach the car door and unload his daily product into the car. 
The longest drive for a farmer is about 6 miles, and many farmers 
live within 2 miles of the railroad. About 300 cans are daily loaded 
here. This car has closets that hold 90 cans each, 30 on each shelf, 
and it takes a supply of ice amounting to 4 tons each day. For 
twenty minutes the work of loading proceeds, when a locomotive 
whistle is heard in the distance, and at 7.55 a train appears, composed 
of two milk cars and one ice car. One of the milk cars is from 
Peterboro and one from Hillsboro. The Wilton car is connected, giv- 
ing the train a third milk car. After a run of a few miles we stop, 
and 120 cans are loaded. The same thing happens at Milford, and 
small supplies are taken at several minor stations. Nashua is the 
next stop, and here a whole carload of milk from Henniker is 
attached to our train. It is a short run to Lowell, Mass., and just 
before reaching it a stop is made and two more cars are picked up — 
one from Sterling, Mass., and one from Hollis, N. H. The train 
with its six cars runs as an express to Boston and is promptly 
switched around to the milk depot of one of the largest contractors, 
reaching there about 10.15 a. m. 

The man in charge of the train is an agent of the contracting cor- 
poration, who receives reports from each carman en route. He is 
kept busy with his accounts, and has them classified and ready to 
turn over to the clerical force in the Boston office as soon as the car 
arrives. 

The milk on this train is all of the evening before and that morn- 
ing. The evening's milk is all carefully cooled, but most of the 
morning's milk is produced so near the railroad that the manage- 
ment of the milk company believes it suffers no harm during the 
few moments it is on the way from the dairy to the car, where it 
is carefully packed in ice. 

THE MILK IN THE CITY. 

i 

AT THE RAILWAY STATION. 

/ 

When the milk reaches the city most of it passes immediately into 
the hands of the peddlers, or retailers, who are to distribute it. 
Many of these are at the platform on the arrival of the train to 
take their supply as soon as it comes out of the cars. Some peddlers 
take milk from the same dairies, so far as it is possible, day after 
day. They take the milk in the cans in which it was transported, 
so that the milk goes in the same cans from producer to peddler. 
For an hour or so the city milk depots are scenes of great animation 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 27 

as the cars are unloaded and the empty cans transferred from plat- 
form to car. As soon as this work is done the cars are hauled out 
ready to be made up into their respective trains for return to the 
country. When the peddlers leave the milk station with their loads 
of milk, they go for the most part to their several places of business, 
where the milk is poured into mixers to make it uniform in quality 
and then bottled for delivery to customers. These bottles of milk 
are then put on ice to be kept until early the next morning, when the 
milk is distributed, often before people are awake, the bottles being 
left on doorstep or in some other convenient place. Where dealers 
have customers who take whole cans — like hotels, restaurants, stores, 
etc. — these may be delivered in the early afternoon of the day they 
are taken from the car. Hence it is sometimes possible in an after- 
noon to buy milk at a grocery which is fresher than the regular 
family supply. The family supply could be delivered the day 
before if it were not for the feeling among housekeepers that morn- 
ing is the time for milk to be delivered. If an afternoon delivery 
would be tolerated, much milk could be delivered the day it is pro- 
duced. 

Each contractor's milk-receiving station is fitted up with sheds and 
platforms adjoining the railway tracks. It has, in addition, com- 
modious and up-to-date buildings for offices, vats for holding surplus 
milk or for carrying milk over for another day's use, also a complete 
butter-manufacturing outfit for utilizing any surplus milk, and in 
one instance a cheese plant. 

THE PEDDLERS. 

The places of the milk peddlers were in many instances very filthy 
and insanitary. The stables and the milk room were frequently close 
to each other, and, besides this, there had been general untidiness. 
With increasing knowledge of the effect of such insanitary conditions, 
the health authorities have become more active and vigilant, and this 
has resulted in great improvement in the condition of milk " stables " 
and milk houses. 

Many retail milk routes are falling into the hands of the con- 
tractors. This sometimes happens through the necessity of taking 
them in payment for debts, and sometimes through a policy on the 
part of some of the contractors to control the retail trade and to 
eliminate the second set of middlemen. Some of the contractors do 
both a retail and wholesale business in the same corporate name, 
while others take a different name for the retail part of the business. 
In some instances a contractor selects some of his best milk for his 
own retail trade; then, by pasteurizing or filtering it, he can place 
on the market an article of more than average quality. Where this 



28 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

is done the contractor's milk depot contains more machinery and other 
equipment than is usually the case. 

DESCRIPTION OF A CONTRACTOR'S RETAIL DEPARTMENT. 

On the arrival of the milk train in Boston a large can (a mixer) 
is placed in the car, and connected by hand couplings and a short 
piece of pipe with what might be described as a hydrant in the 
platform. The milk is emptied from the milk cans in the car into 
this mixer. When a can is emptied it is placed bottom side up on a 
rotar}^ rack inside of the mixer to drain. The rotary rack holds about 
a dozen cans, and by the time it is full the can first put in is well 
drained and is taken out and returned to the car, while another empty 
is placed in position, so that for every can taken out another is put 
in till the car is emptied. The milk is pumped from this mixer to 
a cooler in the upper story, where it is run over pipes filled with ice 
w T ater. From this it runs to a strainer. This strainer is a tank with 
w T ire bars across the bottom. Cheesecloth is placed on these and 
absorbent cotton on top of this, then another layer of cheesecloth. 
This is followed by still more wire bars to hold the cloth and cotton in 
position. When this strainer has been in use for some time another 
is substituted, the cotton being stained quite dark with the manure 
and other filth which have been taken from the milk. The word 
" strainer " is used because that conforms more strictly to the lan- 
guage common in the dairy, but this apparatus may more accurately 
be termed a filter. From the strainer, or filter, the milk flows to a 
glass-lined tank containing 2,200 gallons. There are two of these 
tanks in the room. The milk in these tanks is continually stirred by 
an agitator, resulting in a perfectly uniform article. The room has 
an asphalt floor and the wooden walls are covered with enamel paint, 
so that the premises can be kept scrupulously clean. From these 
tanks the milk flows to fillers in the room below, from which glass 
bottles or tin cans of various sizes are filled for the next day's trade. 
The milk averages 12.75 per cent solids — 3.80 per cent fat. The 
glass milk bottles are put into boxes and broken ice is packed about 
them. The pipes through which the milk is conveyed are made of 
tin-lined copper and are kept scrupulously clean. After the day's 
work is done they are filled with water and sal-soda, which is allowed 
to stand for a while; then they are flushed with clean water, and 
steam is driven through them. They are put together with " unions." 
so that every part is readily accessible. The place has up-to-date 
accommodations for washing and rinsing cans and for cleaning and 
sterilizing bottles. A large business in modified milk for babies and 
invalids is also carried on. 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, HEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 29 

One of the large Boston dealers who puts on the market a superior 
quality of milk publishes a booklet in the Italian and Hebrew lan- 
guages, as well as in English, descriptive of his methods and adver- 
tising the product. 

CREAM. 

The cream trade in Boston is supplied to some extent by the milk 
contractors, their supplies being received from skimming stations in 
the country and transported in their milk cars; but tluyy do not have 
such exclusive control of the cream business as they do of the milk 
trade. A number of creameries are making a specialty of cream pro- 
duction and are sending considerable quantities to the city by ex- 
press. One large Maine corporation has two creameries in that State 
where milk is received, pasteurized, and separated, the cream being 
shipped to several of the larger New England cities. The milk is 
collected by railroad for these creameries, carefully iced in summer, 
and shipped in charge of men on each car. The cream for Boston 
leaves the creamery at 5 p. m. and is forwarded by fast freight in 
refrigerator cars. It reaches Boston at 6 o'clock in the morning. It 
is carried in 40-quart cans, covered with a flat tin cover made per- 
fectly tight by a rubber collar. The cover is fastened firmly in place 
by a little clamp. It is sealed with a lead seal similar to that used 
on the doors of freight cars. This prevents any tampering with the 
cream in transit. When the cream reaches the city it is hauled on 
drays to the company's depot, where it is put into small glass cans, 
or jars, for retail trade, and teams are dispatched to the grocers in 
all of the city and suburban territory. This trade from the Boston 
office runs as high as 1,800 gallons per day in the hottest summer 
weather, and will average about 1,000 gallons per day the year round. 
Incidental to the cream business, about 100 of the usual 8^-quart Bos- 
ton cans of milk are sold. The milk mostly comes as pasteurized 
skim milk, and enough cream is added to give it the proper quality. 
The Maine cream is of two qualities — 44 per cent and IT per cent fat. 
Some of the cream is sent by railroad to Portland and reshipped on 
the Portland and Boston boat, which arrives a couple of hours earlier 
than the train. Such cream as comes by boat is in the usual carriers, 
and these are packed in broken ice in wooden boxes, which are made 
large enough to hold a can each. 

OFFICIAL INSPECTION AND REGULATIONS. 

An unusual amount of attention is paid to the sanitary side of the 
Boston milk supply. The Massachusetts Board of Health is making 
an inspection of the dairies supplying the city with milk. A compe- 
tent veterinarian is employed to take charge of this work. The fol- 



30 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

lowing shows the form of blank used for reports and the particular 
matters which he investigates : 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

State Board of Health. 

Inspection of dairies. 

City or town . Date , 190—. 

Name of owner . Time of visit m. 

Number of cows . Number of cow stables . 



Condition of cows (1) as to health (if any are sick, note same on reverse 

side of blank) ; (2) as to cleanliness. 

Condition of cow stables : 

Construction . Approximate cubic space per cow . 

Means of ventilation . Condition as to light . 

Nature of floor of cow stalls — . Means of drainage . 

Are the cows bedded? . If so, with what? . 

Where is manure stored? . How often removed? . 

Is hay stored where cows are kept? . Are horses kept in same 

stable? . 



General condition as to cleanliness . 

Water supply : 

Source of supply (a) for watering stock ; (b) for washing cans, 

etc. — . 

Distance of latter from (a) stable ; (b) possible source of pollu- 
tion . 

Direction of ground level from each such source — ; . 



Milk : 

Are the udders cleaned before milking? . If so, how? . 

How is the milk cooled? . 

Where is it cooled and handled? ■ — — — . Where is it stored? . 

Where- are cans, etc., washed? . Where kept during milking? . 

Has the owner an ice house? . Is ice easily obtainable in the 

vicinity? . 

How much milk is sold? . To whom is it shipped? — : . 

How far is it hauled for delivery? . At what hours is it 

hauled? . 

If delivered at a railway station, how long a time is likely to elapse before 

it is taken into the car? . 

Signature : : , 



Inspector 

[Reverse side.] 

Memoranda as to diseased cows. 



Name or number of cow. 


Condition. 



















Remarks 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YOBK, PHILADELPHIA. 31 

Not only is the State board of health making investigations, but 
the city board also does inspection work, particularly along bacte- 
riological lines. 

On April 29, 1904, the following regulation in regard to the milk 
supply was adopted by the Boston board of health : 

No person by himself or by his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of 
any other person, firm, or corporation, shall bring into the city of Boston for the 
purpose of sale, exchange, or delivery, or sell, exchange, or deliver, any milk, 
skimmed milk, or cream which contains more than 500,000 bacteria per cubic 
centimeter, or which has a temperature higher than 50° F. 

During June, July, August, and September 2,394 samples were 
taken and tested. Most of these were taken from the milk as it ar- 
rived in the city. The results Avere as follows : 

Per cent. 

Between 30° and 40° F 1 4.00 

Between 40^ and 50° F 49.25 

Between 50° and 60° F________ 39.50 

Between 60° and 70° F 7.25 

100. 00 

Below 50° F. (the standard for temperature) 53.25 

Above 50° F. (the standard for temperature) 46.75 

100. 00 

Below 10,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter 42.50 

Between 100,000 and 500,000 „_•_ 29.25 

• Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 9.75 

Between 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 12.75 

Above 5,000,000 5. 00 

Uncountable . 75 

100. 00 

Below 500,000 (the maximum allowed) 71.75 

Above 500,000 (the maximum allowed) 27.50 

99.25 

During the first season of this work the board sent out" about four 
hundred warnings where the milk varied from the standard. In 
many instances good results were quickly noticeable. 



PART II.— THE MILK SUPPLY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 

"Greater New York " is now by law one municipality ; hence when 
the expression " New York " is used it means Greater New York. 

The New York milk supply is handled to a large extent in 40-quart 
cans ; therefore the word " can " in connection with the New York 
milk business means 40 quarts. The milk is hauled by the farmers to 
milk stations near the railroad stations from which it is shipped, and 
these shipping stations are locally known as creameries ; hence the word 
" creamery," in connection with the milk supply of New York City, 
does not mean a butter factory, as in other places, but a place where 
milk is received from the farmers and prepared for transportation to 
the city. 

MAGNITUDE OF THE BUSINESS. 

New York City, with three and a half million people credited to it 
by the census (1900), and with a large transient population such as 
every metropolis attracts, consumes daily an immense amount of milk. 
To estimate the magnitude of the business presents some difficulties 
peculiar to local conditions. For example, one of the largest firms 
supplying the city with milk is also one of the largest condensers of 
milk in the country, and it is very conservative about making reports 
relative to its business; and so far as reports are made to the State 
agricultural department of milk received in the country, the figures 
represent milk received by it for condensing as well as for sale as 
whole milk. Further than this, the cream business of New York City 
is largely in the same hands as the milk business, and some official 
reports refer to the amount of " milk and cream " shipped, whereas, 
to get at the magnitude of the milk industry alone, we must put the 
cream on the basis of milk. 

Let the question be considered from the theoretical standpoint : 
Averaging many reports and estimates, we find that the average con- 
sumption of milk exceeds half a pint per capita per day. This figure 
indicates the daily consumption of three and a half million people 
to be 875,000 quarts of milk, not including cream. Should Ave 
add one-tenth of a pint per day (allowance for cream) to the usual 
daily milk consumption per capita and use six-tenths of a pint as a 
32 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 33 

multiplier, the product would be 1,050,000 quarts per day. These 
estimates are based on the ruling daily consumption of milk and 
cream in smaller places, which have not the large transient population 
of New York. 

Taking the best statistics which we can find, we note that Bulletin 
No. 25, Division of Statistics, United States Department of Agri- 
culture (p. 13) estimates the New York "milk and cream " supply 
at 400,000,000 quarts per year, which is 1,093,162 quarts per day. 
The same bulletin (p. 22) quotes the compilation of a railroad freight 
agent, who figures up the receipts of milk and cream for 1902 as 
428,000,000 quarts. This would be 1,175,300 quarts per day. The 
State department of agriculture in Bulletin No. 6 (p. 2) reports the 
amount of milk shipped from stations in the State for the year 1902 
as 383,000,000 quarts, with an additional 15,000,000 quarts of cream, 
these shipments thus aggregating 398,000,000 quarts of milk and 
cream per year, or 1,087,670 quarts per day. These figures from 
the State report should be reduced by the amounts shipped to other 
places than New York City and increased by the amount sent from 
outside of the State to the metropolis. The New York City depart- 
ment of health, in its report for 1902 (p. 144), states: " The amount 
of milk consumed in New York [City] is somewhat less than a million 
and a half quarts daily." Health Commissioner Darlington estimates 
the consumption of milk in January, 1905, at 1,388,000 quarts daily, 
as follows : 

Manhattan . 800, 000 

Brooklyn 400,000 

Bronx 90,000 

Queens 80,000 

Richmond 18,000 

There are no great discrepancies between these various estimates 
and reports. It is safe to infer that if the cream consumed were 
put on the basis of milk the industry would be shown to amount to 
over 1,500,000 quarts daily. If the cows which produce this supply 
of milk average 1\ quarts daily, over 200,000 cows would be required. 

WHERE THE MILK COMES FROM.' 

Health Commissioner Darlington estimates that 87 per cent of 
the milk and cream consumed in New York City is produced in the 
State of New York. This milk comes from distances varying from 
40 to 400 miles. The balance of the supply comes from northern 
New Jersey, northeastern Pennsylvania, western Connecticut, and 
southwestern Massachusetts. 

In regard to the 87 per cent of milk from the State, this may be 
said as to its origin: The New York City health department esti- 



34 



BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



mates that 400 creameries ship milk to the city. The previously 
mentioned bulletin of the State department of agriculture lists 539 
milk stations in the State. This list includes those shipping milk to 
other cities, but does not include those out of the State which send 
milk to New York. But an analysis of the location of the 539 milk sta- 
tions in the State will indicate the relative milk-shipping importance 
of different counties. The following table gives the number of ship- 
ping stations in the thirteen leading counties, as well as their rela- 
tive rank: 



Rank. 


County. 


Stations. 


Rank. 


County. 


Stations. 


1 
2 
3 
4 

5 

6 


Orange 


71 
52 
40 
30 

27 
27 
25 


7 
8 

9 

10 


Sullivan 

Broome 

fCayuga 

[Herkimer . 


24 

20 
17 
17 
16 
16 


Delaware 

Madison 

Chenango 

[Dutchess .. .. 

JQneida . . 

Cortland. . 


I Tioga 

(Chemung 





The following table gives the relative order of the leading counties, 
based on the amount of milk reported as received at the shipping 
stations, or creameries, in the counties : 



Rank. 


County. 


Cans re- 
ceived. 


1 

2 
3 

4 

5 
6 


Orange 


86,000,000 
67,000,000 
44,000,000 
43,000,000 
43,000,000 
30,000,000 
21,000,000 
21,000,000 


Delaware 

Madison 

[Chenango 

[Dutchess 

Cortland . 


[Herkimer 

[Oneida 



Both standards agree in placing Orange County first, Delaware 
second, Madison third, Chenango fourth, and Dutchess fifth. Beyond 
these the two standards show some variation. 



LARGE DEALERS. 



Most of the milk sold in New York City is distributed and retailed 
by dealers who own the shipping stations in the country, and who are 
therefore receivers, wholesalers, and retailers, all in one concern. 
Some tables follow which give some idea of the amount of business 
done by some of the largest dealers. These tables have been prepared 
by analyzing and classifying reports of the State department of 
agriculture. The first column relates to the number of shipping 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 



35 



stations; the second column gives the number of quarts received at 
each of the stations in 1902 : 



Number of shipping 
stations. 


Number of 
quarts. 


Number of shipping 
stations. 


Number of 
quarts. 


1 


14,000,000 


5 


5,000,000 


3 


10,000,000 


3 


4,000,000 


1 


9,000,000 


10 


3,000,000 


1 


8,000,000 


21 


2,000,000 


1 


7,000,000 


122 


1,000,000 


1 


6,000,000 







The following table shows the number of stations owned by some 
of the largest dealers, using letters instead of names : 



Corporation. 


Number of 
shipping 
stations. 


• 


Corporation. 


Number of 
shipping 
stations. 


A 


27 
26 
25 
23 
10 


F 

G. 

H 

I... 


8 
5 
5 

8 
6 


B_ 

C_... 

D... 


E 


j __:____ 



These ten concerns have 143 stations — or one-quarter of the whole 
number; besides, there are two establishments with 4 stations each, 
six with 3 stations each, and eight with 2 stations each. There are 
some difficulties in getting at all the figures, but from the best esti- 
mates we can make it appears that five of the largest concerns handle 
one- third of all the business. 



COMMENTS OF DEALERS AND PRODUCERS. 



One of the largest dealers said : " There is a growing sentiment 
in favor of the large corporations, because the larger they become 
the more reputation and capital they have at stake, and hence the 
more reason for being reliable." Another dealer said : " The ten- 
dency is toward concentration; the small shipper is a thing of the 
past," A large producer stated : " The day of small peddlers who 
buy direct of the producers has gone by." One who is good au- 
thority made this statement : " The milk business appears to be get- 
ting into fewer hands. Probably 80 to 90 per cent of the milk sold 
in Greater New York is handled by 125 dealers." 



MILK ON THE FARMS. 



Several influences operate to increase the care with which milk is 
produced. In the first place, a premium is paid for superior milk in 



3(> BUKEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

many instances. Milk produced from healthy cattle under approved 
sanitary conditions is certified to by an association of physicians, and 
certified milk commands an extra price. It is produced in airy, well- 
ventilated barns. The milk as soon as drawn is at once removed 
and cooled to 38° F. and in that condition sent to market. Such milk 
never exceeds 5,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter, and frequently it 
runs as low as 1,500. In the next place, the concentration of the 
business in large and strong hands tends to raise the quality of the 
milk, and these corporations frequently have a reputation among the 
producers of being exacting and arbitrary. If these large concerns 
are particular as to the care of the milk at the dairy, they not only 
directly influence the quality of the milk which they receive, but they 
set the pace, as it were, for other dealers to follow. The largest 
firm supplying the city market .happens to be the most particular, 
as much of its supply is condensed. The regulations of this corpora- 
tion go so far as to prohibit the use of foods some of which have 
the sanction of the best dairy authorities. The list of prohibited 
foods for cows producing milk for this corporation is : Turnips, bar- 
ley sprouts, brewery or distillery grains, linseed meal, glucose refuse, 
starch refuse, buffalo feed, ensilage, rancid oil cake, and gluten meal. 
Other rules of this corporation which are of unquestionable bene- 
fit to the milk supply provide for thorough lighting and ventilation 
of stables, and whitewashing once a year, together with much care- 
as to cleanliness. The milk room must be separate from the stable, 
and the entrance to it can not be through a partition or door opening 
directly from the stable; the milk must be cooled to 58° F. or lower 
within forty-five minutes ; any representative of the corporation shall 
have the right to inspect any of the stables in which milk is produced 
for it ; night's and morning's milk must be kept separate. 

None of the other dealers go so far as the above. One large cor- 
poration which does a large business in milk of superior quality has 
no rules at all, at least no arbitrary list of " thou-shalt-nots," but 
it merely requires that the milk it buys shall be as good as the best 
or as good as modern skill can produce. If the milk meets the 
demands of the purchaser, no questions are asked as to details of 
production or whether this or that food was fed. This corporation 
proceeds on the theory that to produce the results which it requires 
everything must be about right. 

Besides the precautions of dealers to secure clean, good milk, health 
officers are continually on the alert to detect the more flagrant viola- 
tions of the ordinary rules of care and cleanliness. When the well 
is found too near the stable, when the surroundings are dirty, or 
when the cows are kept in dark filthy stables, there is official action. 

In some of the milk-producing sections 40 to 50 cows are regarded 
as an average dairy herd, though in some instances there are as many 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 87 

as 100 cows in a herd. In other sections from 20 to 25 cows are con- 
sidered an average herd. Few who live any considerable distance 
from a creamery produce less than one can of milk per day. The 
farmers for the most part live within 5 or 6 miles of the cream- 
ery and deliver the milk in the morning. This necessitates artificial 
cooling of the night's milk, which is done in spring-houses or in 
tanks of ice water. The use of ice is increasing, and in some portions 
of the territory the gathering of the ice crop in winter is considered 
almost as important a task as the gathering of the hay crop in the 
summer. If the night's milk is not below G0° F. when delivered in 
the morning, it may be rejected. The cooling of the morning's milk 
depends on the distance the farmer lives from the station. One large 
dealer has a sliding scale of temperatures for milk delivered, as 
follows : 

°F. 

Night's milk delivered the next morning 50 

Morning's milk produced within 1 mile of station and delivered 

before 7 a. m 60 

Morning's milk produced within 2 miles of the station and de- 
livered before 8 a. m 55 

Morning's milk delivered after 9 a. m 52 

Usually the milk is delivered by 9 o'clock, though there is some 
difference in time at different stations, depending on the time the 
milk train leaves. As one stands near a shipping station in the 
morning he will see every conceivable kind of vehicle drive up to 
the station door. Some have one horse, others have tAvo, and still 
others four. As a rule, the wagons have no particular facilities for 
keeping the milk cool in the summer, except a canvas thrown over 
the load. The farmers usually own the cans used in the delivery of 
their milk. When the cans are emptied at the creamery they are 
rinsed, washed, and then scalded with steam, thus rendering them 
sterile. In a few minutes after the farmer reaches the station with 
his milk it has been unloaded and clean cans returned to him. 

In some localities the farmers live as far as 12 miles from the 
creamery, and in such cases there is a different system of getting 
the milk to the central depot. A collector has a specially built wagon 
which will carry 40 cans. These collectors are nominally employed 
by the farmers, but ordinarily the amount due them is deducted from 
the farmer's check at the creamery, where the collector gets his pay- 
ment. The usual price for collecting milk is about 10 cents per hun- 
dred pounds, the amount varying somewhat according to distance 
and local conditions. Just before the collector is due in the morning 
the farmer takes the milk from the cooling tank and places the cans 
on a little roadside platform, from which the collector takes them. 
Sometimes the farmer does not live on a road over which the collec- 
tor passes. In such case the producer meets the collector at the 



38 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

junction of the roads. When milk is transported long distances in 
wagons, there are facilities for refrigeration, and sometimes the milk 
is also iced en route. Some of the contracts with the buyers require 
the use of wagons with springs in transporting the milk to the 
creamery. 

SHIPPING STATIONS OR CREAMERIES. 
DESCRIPTION. 

At each point from which milk is shipped to the city there is a 
building, sometimes known as a shipping station, but more frequently 
as a creamery. Here the milk is received from the farmers and pre- 
pared for shipment. Practically no milk is loaded directly from 
the producer's wagon into the milk car. These stations are located 
more or less closely together, according to the amount of dairying 
in the vicinity. In Orange County, the town of Warwick has 12 
stations. In Delaware County, Stamford has 10 stations. Towns 
with 4 to 6 stations are frequent. On several lines of railroad the 
stations are at least within 5 miles of each other, and stations 2 or 3 
miles apart are not uncommon. Most of the stations are owned by the 
city dealers, but a few are cooperative or have independent owners. 
Where the stations are near together they are usually owned by dif- 
ferent dealers, and there is sometimes a little competition for the 
product of the neighboring dairies which can ship to one as well as 
to the other. 

These stations vary greatly as to equipment. The most ordinary 
have merely a tank for ice water and cans, with a small boiler to 
produce hot water or steam for washing cans and other utensils. 
The more elaborate establishments are equipped with clarifier, pas- 
teurizer, bottling machine, bottle washer, separator, churn, cream vat. 
sterilizing plant, ice crusher, condensery, and, in some instances, 
repair shop for mending cans and bottle boxes. In every case there 
is an ice house either attached to the creamery or located very near. 
Usually a railroad side track runs close to the building for conve- 
nience in loading. In some instances a dwelling house is connected 
with the creamery. 

The variation in quality of the equipment in the creameries is very 
great. In some of the poorer creameries the tanks and floors are of 
wood ; and even where the attendant is very careful the water-soaked 
and partially decayed wood offers a condition far from ideal; and 
where there is considerable carelessness in spilling milk and no pains 
is taken to clear up the neglected corners the condition becomes very 
bad. The board of health has found the conditions in some cases 
so bad that it has revoked the corporation's permit to sell milk in 
New York City. At the other extreme are the creameries of the 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 39 

large corporations with a fancy trade and plenty of capital. Here 
we find cement floors, tile walls, and everything bright and shining. 
Utensils, vats, and tanks are sterilized with live steam, machinery is 
thoroughly cleaned, while plenty of water is conveyed in hose to 
floors and walls. The floors are slightly concave, so that the water 
quickly drains off and they soon become dry. 

HANDLING MILK AT THE STATIONS. 

In the simplest of these stations the milk is received from the 
farmer, emptied from his cans, and mixed and cooled for sending to 
the city in the 40-quart cans. The cans of milk are set in tanks, 
which are usually so placed that the top is level with the floor in 
order to save lifting. The cans are placed in ice water and the milk 
is occasionally stirred, so that it will cool evenly throughout. The 
stirring is done with a flat disk several inches in diameter, to which 
a handle is attached at right angles with the disk. Raising and 
lowering the disk thoroughly stirs the milk. 

In the more pretentious creameries milk is clarified, pasteurized, 
or blended, according to the kind of business done. The bottled 
milk of the city is largely put up at these creameries. Several of 
them are also condensing establishments. Many of them put up 
pot cheese, and the large city demand for buttermilk is met by 
churning skim milk. The surplus is regulated at the creamery as 
much as possible rather than in the city. Supplies are ordered from 
day to day by telegraph at the latest moment possible. Any sur- 
plus is left at the creamery to be worked up into butter or to be 
condensed. Many of these creameries have separators, by means 
of which the dealers' supply of cream is secured. The State has a 
low fat standard for milk (3 per cent), and many producers feel 
that sometimes whole milk is partially skimmed so that a dealer 
can get quite a cream supply b}^ bringing his milk supply down to 
a 3 per cent basis. 

The higher the standing of the dealer the better the condition of 
his creamery. Dealers who sell to others to sell again have a mini- 
mum of responsibility, and the condition of the places belonging to 
them does not average so good. 

It is estimated by Darlington that about one-third of the city milk 
supply is sold in bottles. Most of this is bottled in these creameries. 
The remainder — the two-thirds — is shipped to the city in cans to 
supply the large customers, like hotels, restaurants, institutions, and 
grocers, also a few peddlers. 

These shipping stations are not only subject to the inspection of 
the city board of health, which can refuse permits to city dealers if 
the country conditions are not all right, but the State agricultural 



40 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

department has direct supervision of them and can make suggestions 
as to changes. 

The empty cans come back from the city dirty, and are washed at 
these creameries. When the cans have stood some time in a grocerv 
store or near a kitchen fire their condition is bad, and this negligence 
is criticised by health authorities. But there is every facility at the 
creamery for giving them a thorough cleansing. 

CARS USED FOR TRANSPORTING MILK. 

The cars used in transporting milk to New York City are prac- 
tically the same over the whole of the territory. The only differences 
are in size and minor details. In external appearance they are like 
ordinary express cars, with one central door on each side. In a few 
instances there are end doors. The word " Milk " is painted on each 
side of the car, with the name of the railroad corporation. The entire 
space inside the car is in one compartment. Having no partitions, 
the cars can easily be kept clean b}^ flushing with water. This 
is usually done daily in summer. The construction of the cars is 
similar to that of the familiar refrigerator cars. The walls are dou- 
ble, and there is a trap door in the roof for loading ice, with ventila- 
ting openings in the sides near the bottom. Most of the cars are 
piped for steam so that the milk can be kept from freezing in the 
winter. These cars are all of the time under the direct control of 
the railroads. The railroad company therefore assumes the respon- 
sibility for the care of the milk en route, and takes entire charge 
of the refrigeration in the summer. For this purpose it has icing 
stations on long runs, where the cars are iced, either at the top or by 
placing cakes of ice among the milk cans. 

Where the shipping station is a large one, a car is placed on the 
railroad siding near the building, and the men employed about the 
creamery load the cans or boxes of bottles. When the milk train 
arrives, all that is necessary is to back onto the siding and connect 
with the car. In the case of small creameries the milk is loaded 
while the train waits. Sometimes the work is merely twirling the 
cans across a gangway into the car door. In other cases the trainmen 
have to carry the cans or boxes across a track. Sometimes, when the 
station stands back from the railroad track, there is a loading plat- 
form near the track, connected with the creamery by a bridge, and 
the manager has the cans on the loading platform before the train 
arrives, which greatly facilitates the work. 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 41 

DESCRIPTION OF A MILK ROUTE. 

The following details of a trip on a milk train from Binghamton 




tHISSim SPHIM6S 



rwmMfcmMH OttOf 



\UOtfltWSKS 

!m otimwar) 
iOmiston r cm*smw* ( 

232m 



M60L_ <$> 



r 

mrw, 
■mm/ 

i 

i 



/W 



ft *mmito % 
I 



PINEBW I & 

'i/ 



ISfm 



iwuiDswm 



> 



Scole Miles 
- I ' i° If ■ 



(ASM* . 

\fimn. 




Fig. 3. — Map showing the source of New York's milk supply. 

to Albany will not only describe that particular route, but, so far as 
it is typical, will throw light on the general methods practiced : 

The train leaves Binghamton at 9.15 a, m. with three empty milk 
cars and two passenger coaches. The few passengers are for local 



42 BUREAU OF ANTMAL INDUSTRY. 

points not far distant from Binghamton. Eleven miles out the first 
milk is taken, 40 cans being loaded from a rather dingy looking 
creamery. After a ride of 4 miles a stop is made at a station where 13 
cases of bottled milk are loaded. After 3 miles more, we come to a 
station where there is a creamery which utilizes all the milk locally. 
Three miles farther on about 100 cases of bottled milk are taken on. 
A mile beyond, at Nineveh Junction, a whole car which has come 
down a branch road is attached to the train. Afton, 5 miles beyond, 
is reached at 10.20, and at this place between 60 and 70 cans are 
loaded. Six miles more brings us to Bainbridge, where another car 
is coupled to the train, near a bright, white creamery. Some of the 
milk for this creamery is hauled from farms 8 and 10 miles distant. 
As we get farther down the grade the valley broadens, and many 
thrifty, farms are seen. Nine miles farther yet, after being on the 
road two hours, two cars are picked up; 5 miles more and another 
car is taken, and after 4 miles still another. At this last station 
nearly two carloads are shipped, so that there is a considerable 
amount to be loaded by the trainmen. At Oneonta a car is added, 
and 6 miles beyond something like 100 cases of bottles are loaded. 
The next five stations are from 3 to 5 miles apart, and at each one of 
these a considerable quantity of milk is loaded, in one case 105 cans. 
Cobleskill is reached about 3 p. m., where a car is coupled to the 
train, which waits for all the cars to be iced ; this is done by placing 
a cake of ice in the space between groups of four cans each. A few 
more small lots of milk are loaded at different stations. Albany, 
143 miles from Binghamton, is reached at 4.40 p. m., seven hours 
and twenty-five minutes from the start. Here the cars brought in 
over the several roads are made up into a long train, and at. 8.20 the 
train is rushing at high speed to New York City. 

The loading of the milk on this train is done by the trainmen, 
and the record of the shipments is kept by the conductor, just as 
the conductor of an ordinary freight train keeps record of the 
numbers on the cars, waybills, etc. 

FREIGHT RATES. 

Freight rates on milk to New York City are based on a zone sys- 
tem recommended by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and are 
as follows on 40-quart cans : Cents 

per can. 
Up to 40 miles 23 

Between 40 and 100 miles 20 

Between 100 and 200 miles 20 

200 miles and over . 82 

This system of rates is followed by all of the roads, the only appar- 
ent difference being in the case of the New York Central Railway, 
which makes one rate for a whole division for those dealers on the east 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON , NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 



43 



side of the Hudson River. These division rates have a relation to the 
rates of the foregoing table, being near to the rate of the zone in which 
the most distant point of the division is located. This system of the 
Central Railway makes it possible for a shipper on one division to 
pay more than one on another division living the same distance from 
the city. 

The railroads seem to be in substantial agreement as to the freight 
on cream, which, with but few exceptions, is 18 cents per can more 
than the freight on milk. The transportation costs no more, but the 
extra charge is justified on the principle defended by many econo- 
mists, that the cost of an article, or its value, is a proper element to 
consider in fixing the freight charge. 

The freight charges on bottled milk and cream are less uniform 
than on the same commodities in bulk. The tendency of the railroads 
is to advance the rate on the bottled goods. In several instances there 
has been an advance in these rates since the publication *of Bulletin 
No. 25 of the Division of Statistics (1902). The published rates of 
the railroad companies do not have any common unit. For instance, 
some quote rates by the case, which may contain quarts or pints, or any- 
Avhere from 10 to 24 bottles to the case. In the following table the 
computation has been made on the basis of the quart ; when the milk 
or cream is put up in quart bottles, 12 to the case are understood : 

Freight rates on milk and cream carried into New York City. 







40-quart cans. 


Quart bottles. 


Zone. 


Railroad. 








Milk. 


Cream. 


Milk. 


Cream. 






Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents. 




[Erie 


23 
23 
23 
23 


41 
41 
41 
36 


0.80 

.77 
.81 
.83 


1.43 


First zone.. _ 


West Shore 

D., L. & W 


1.22 




1.43 




Lehigh Valley .. 






[Erie. 


26 
26 
26 
26 
25 


44 
44 
44 
44 
36 


.91 

.85 

.91 

.91 

..83 


1.54 




West Shore 


1.30 




D., L. & W 


1.54 


Second zone . 


N.T., O. & W 






1.54 




Lehigh Valley 






N. Y.,N.H.&H 


25 


30 


.87 


1.05 




(Erie 


29 


47 


1.01 


1.64 




West Shore 


29 


47 


.92 


1.37 


Third zone . . 


D.,L. & W 


29 
29 


47 
47 


1.00 
1.01 


1.64 




N.Y., O. & W. 


1.64 




N. Y. C, main line.. 


29 


47 


1.02 


1.64 


v 


[Erie. . 


32 


50 


1.12 


1.75 




West Shore ... 


32 
32 


50 
50 


1.00 
1.11 


1.45 




D.,L. & W 


1.75 


Fourth zone 


N.Y., 0. & W 

Lehigh Valley 


32 
32 


50 


1 12 


1 75 




50 


1.12 


1.75 




N. Y.C 


32 


50 


1.12 


1.75 




N. Y. C, R. W. &0. Div_- 






1.45 





4-4 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Freight rate* on milk and cream carried into New York City — Continued. 







40-quart cans. 


Quart bottles. 


Zone. 


Railroad. 
















Milk. 


Cream. 


Milk. 


Cream. 






Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents. 




Pntnain division (most 


25 


30 


.87 


1.05 




remote point 54 miles.) 










New York Central (di visions east 


Harlem division (most 


25 


35 


.87 


1.22 


of Hudson River). 


remote point 127 miles). 












Hudson division (most 


30 


40 


1.05 


1.40 




remote point 148 miles) . 











Taking the 26-cent zone, for illustration, it will be seen that the 
rate per quart when the milk is in cans is 0.65 cent; when it is in 
glass bottles, packed in substantial wooden cases filled with crushed 
ice, the rate is about 0.9 cent. The ratio of actual weight is about 
2J to 1. 

Most of the roads allow a discount of 20 per cent from the above 
rates for carload lots; hence the definition of a carload is of concern. 
The common case, containing a dozen quart bottles, when iced weighs 
85 pounds, and 600 of these ordinarily constitute a carload. This 
is 7,200 quarts, or 51,000 pounds, although the weight is constantly 
lessening as the ice melts. The New York, Ontario and \Yestern 
Railroad states that for the purpose of its freight tariff a carload 
must consist of at least 250 cans, or 7,000 quarts in bottles. This 
would be 10,000 quarts in cans, or 7,000 in bottles. The Delaware, 
Lackawanna and Western Railroad defines a carload as consisting 
of 9,000 quarts in cans, or 6,500 quarts in bottles. 

MILK TRAINS. 
HOW RUN, TIME, DISTANCE, ETC. 

The milk cars are usually run in milk trains entirely distinct from 
the passenger service. In some instances, however, a passenger 
car is attached to a milk train during the portion of its run in 
which it is picking up the load of milk. In other instances, on some 
branch roads, the milk car is attached to a regular passenger train. 
or even to a freight train, the milk cars being made into a milk 
train at the junction. Exclusive milk trains are run on the fastest 
time of any trains on the road, and are drawn by the strongest and 
surest locomotives. 

The prevailing manner of distributing milk in the city calls for 
the arrival of the trains in the night, generally between 10 o'clock 
and midnight. We have prepared a table showing the time the 
milk cars or trains leave some of the most remote points, the distance 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 



45 



traveled, and the time on the road. It is worthy of note that these 
trains pick up milk for long distances, and that milk produced 
near by reaches the city no sooner than that produced 300 miles 
away. The morning's milk always reaches the city before midnight, 
but there are places where the trains stop to take on fresh milk as 
late as from 2 to 6 o'clock in the afternoon. 

Table showing time milk trains leave, distance traveled, and time on road. 



Railroad. 



Starting point. 



Dis- 
tance. 



Time 
leaves. 



Time 
arrives. 



Time 
on road. 



N. Y., O. & W._ 
D., L. & W 

N. Y., N. H. &H 
Erie 

Lehigh Valley . . . 

1ST. Y. Central. ... 

N. Y., Sus. & W . 



JSidney, N. Y 

[Central Square, N. Y. 

Elmira, N. Y 

Syracuse, N. Y 

Utica, N. Y. 

Richfield Springs 



Pittsfield, Mass. 



Hornellsville, N. Y 



Port Jervis 
Pine Island 



Miles. 
201 
300 
264 
287 
302 
311 

155 

332 

89 

72 



Clockville 387 

[Massena Springs 396 

jOgdensburg 372 



JMiddletown, N. Y 
[Stroudstmrg, Pa .. 



90 
102 




ARRIVAL IN THE CITY. 



The milk trains arrive in New York City about the same time — 
from 10 to 11 o'clock at night. There are, however, several places 
of arrival — at Harlem River (One hundred and thirtieth street), at 
Highbridge, at Thirtieth street and Tenth avenue; but the great 
mass of the milk is delivered in New Jersey. 

At the railroad terminals there are no special arrangements for the 
milk business aside from the covered platform to be found at all 
freight stations. The different dealers are on hand on the arrival of 
the trains to get their several supplies. There is no confusion, prin- 
cipally for the reason that there is not a large number of small 
dealers to complicate the delivery. Transportation from the rail- 
roads is done chiefly by large wagons drawn by three or four horses. 



HANDLING MILK IN THE CITY 



When the large wagons leave the railroad stations they are driven 
to the headquarters of the different large dealers, where the load is 



40 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

transferred to smaller wagons for distribution throughout the city. 
The city milk station is chiefly a combination of a counting room and 
a stable, the office being on the second floor, the first floor being de- 
voted to space for Ayagons. Some of these places have a small refrig- 
erator for keeping a little surplus milk, and occasionally there is a 
churn and other facilities for making butter of inferior quality from 
sour or surplus milk. In two or three instances large dealers have 
fitted up rooms for pasteurizing and bottling milk in the city. 
Where these large dealers retail milk from a store it is entirely sep- 
arated from the main place of business. 

Speaking in a general way, about one-third of the city supply is 
delivered in bottles and tw T o-thirds in cans. The " can " milk goes 
to institutions, hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores. There are 
7,000 such stores in the Borough of Manhattan. 

HOW THE PRICE IS DETERMINED. 

Three ways are in vogue for determining the price to be paid the 
producers. The first is by the New York Milk Exchange. This is 
an organization, nominally of representative producers and dealers, 
for the purpose of studying the situation from the standpoint of 
each and fixing a price, after a canvass of the supply, demand, and 
cost of production. The exchange has 17 directors, who determine 
the price of milk when conditions seem to warrant a change from 
the prevailing price. Sometimes the price is changed three times a 
month, although so frequent changes are not common. No definite 
advance contracts or prices are made by the exchange. The price 
fixed upon to-day is the price until another is determined upon. Of 
the seventeen directors, the secretary reports that more than one- 
third are producers. One of the largest dealers stated that tAvo of 
the directors Avere farmers, while others are both producers and 
shippers. But the mass of the producers resent the claim that they 
have any representation in fixing the price. About three-fourths 
of the New York milk is bought on the exchange basis. The net 
price to the farmers is the exchange price, less three items — the zone 
freight rate, 5 cents per can as a ferriage charge on such milk as is 
landed in NeAv Jersey, and a " station charge " of 10 cents per can. 
The exchange price in February, 1905, was $1.61 per can. In the 
second zone there would be deducted 26 cents freight, 5 cents fer- 
riage, and 10 cents station charge. This would make the net price 
to the farmer $1.20, or 3 cents per quart. The station charge varies 
somewhat with the competition between different shippers when their 
creameries are located near each other. 

Much milk which is paid for on the exchange basis is actually 
bought by the 100 pounds. The milk is Aveighed when delivered 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 47 

by the farmer at the shipping station and then reduced to cans at 
8C pounds to the can. In handling milk in large quantities the use 
of the words " can " and " quart " as units in price making seems to 
be decreasing and the s}^stem of paying by the 100 pounds is 
increasing. 

The second way of paying for milk is that adopted by the largest 
purchasers, who buy for condensing as well as for direct sale, and 
who condense much of their surplus in seasons when there is an 
abundant production. These purchasers buy by the 100 pounds, 
but make a price for a period of six months in advance. It is 
claimed that the exchange price is influential as a basis in fixing 
this scale of prices, although the two do not always agree. The 
price paid per 100 pounds is a net price at the shipping station, 
k ' condensery," or creamery. 

The third way of buying is by the 100 pounds on the basis of the 
fat in the milk. Samples are taken daily and tested. The agreed 
price is for milk testing 4.2 per cent, and 2 cents additional is paid 
for each one-tenth of 1 per cent of fat. 

MILK SANITATION. 

In handling an article as susceptible to contamination and dete- 
rioration as milk, the question of sanitation is important. The prob- 
lem is also difficult, for it must deal with the thousands of producers, 
then with the conditions at the shipping stations, next with the 
manner of transportation, and finally with the manner of retailing in 
the city. Many of the smaller groceries have no facilities for keeping 
milk cool in the summer, and they give the city board of health much 
trouble. In one section it is stated that, " out of a total of 2,458 
stores visited, only 454 were found where the milk was properly 
cooled and where there was no communication with living rooms." 

The State agricultural department has direct supervision over the 
sanitary conditions in the country, especially at the shipping stations. 
Where the places are in bad condition, the department can require 
them to be cleaned up. The city board of health makes occasional 
investigations of the country conditions, and if they are insanitary 
the board refuses permits to sell milk in the city from such places. In 
this way a local board of officers can indirectly exercise supervision 
over matters beyond its jurisdiction. 



PART III.— THE MILK SUPPLY OF PHILADELPHIA. 

AMOUNT SOURCES CARS. 

The milk supply of Philadelphia for the year 1903 was 111,242,000 
quarts. This was received from the following sources : 

Quarts. 

Pennsylvania Railroad 47,984,000 

Reading Railroad : 

Near by 35,354,000 

Distant 3,488,000 

38, 842, 000 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 7,015,000 

Lehigh Valley Railroad 10,201,000 

Wagons (estimated) 7,200,000 

Total 111,242,000 

For six years the annual rate of increase has varied from 1,000,000 
to 6,000,000 quarts and averaged nearly 3,000,000 quarts, rising from 
93,959,000 to 111,242,000. 

Stating the receipts for 1903 by percentages and rearranging the 
order of the above table, we have the following results : • 

Per cent. 
Pennsylvania Railroad 43. 2 

Reading Railroad (near by) 31.5 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 6. 3 

*« 

Total near-by railroad milk 81.0 

Wagon milk 6.3 

Total near-by milk 87.3 

Lehigh Valley Railroad 9.0 

Reading Railroad (distant) 3.6 

12. 6 

Total 99.9 

From the above table it will be seen that 87 per cent of the city's 
milk supply comes from comparatively near-by sources, chiefly in 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and some in Delaware. About 6 per 
cent is estimated to be brought into the city in wagons from dairies 
near the city or situated within the territorial limits of the munici- 
48 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YOEK, PHILADELPHIA. 



49 



pality. Five thousand cows are reported within the city limits. 
The " wagon milk " is gradually growing less as the value of land 
near the city increases and becomes less available for dairying. Of 
the 93 per cent of the city milk which is transported to the city by 
railroad 81 per cent comes from within 60 miles. This milk is trans- 
ported in ordinary baggage and express cars. No money is expended 
in fitting them up for milk cars; in fact, they are not even labeled. 
The Pennsylvania Railroad cars have two doors on each side, and 
the Reading Railroad cars have three. Most of the cars are piped 
for heating. A few have old-fashioned stoves, but none have any 
facilities for refrigeration. The cars are for the most part clean, 
but in some instances more attention to cleanliness on the part of the 
railroad companies would seem desirable. The cars are usually 
run in connection with passenger trains. In some instances the milk 




M ARYLAND 
Srafe : Miles 






^SmBfTDN 



Fig. -i. — Map showing the source of Philadelphia's milk supply. 

cars start with passenger trains, but on reaching the junctions they 
are made up into a special milk train. In such cases there is usually 
no milk taken on between the junction and the city. 

As the milk is transported in baggage cars on passenger trains, 
the transportation is closely connected with the passenger depart- 
ment of the railroads, and on the Pennsylvania system the business 
is entirely in charge of the latter department. 



THE CANS. 



Fully 90 per cent of the cans used in the business are owned by 
the farmers. Forty-quart cans are used for the most part, although 
there are some " 30's " and a few " 20V , The cans vary much in 
shape, some being much taller than others of the same capacity. 



BO BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

Many farmers paint their cans to assist in their preservation. A 
pile of cans at a large railroad station in Philadelphia presents less 
uniformity than in Boston or New York, as there are cans of various 
shapes, sizes, and ages; some are quite rusty and have the paint nearly 
all worn off. Sometimes the cans are kept in service longer than 
they should be; the covers especially become battered and otherwise 
out of repair, and some were found to be in an insanitary condition. 

, FREIGHT RATES, AND HOW PAID. 

The farmers sell their milk, delivered in Philadelphia, at a definite 
price. Payment for transportation is made by a system of tickets, 
printed for convenience on common shipping tags. These tags are 
attached to the cans, which are not supposed to get on the train with- 
out tickets any more than are passengers. When the cans are loaded 
the baggage master goes through the car and takes up the tickets 
after the manner of the conductor, the difference being that the 
tickets are taken up by detaching the ticket portion of the tag on a 
perforated line. The tickets, each good for the transportation of 
a 20-quart can, are sold in bunches of 20 for $1.50, $2, or $3, de- 
pending on whether the milk has to be transferred at a junction. 
Other tickets are sold for 30-quart and 40-quart cans, although two 
20-quart tickets will be taken for transporting a 40-quart can. 
Any farmer can buy a bunch of tickets and put his milk on any 
milk car. By this system no special privileges are shown to any- 
one, and even the smallest producer can ship milk to the city 
without any inconvenience and on as good terms and conditions as 
the largest shipper. In local language, rates are sometimes spoken 
of as a $2 rate or a $3 rate, according to the price of 20 tickets, 
but in order that the rate may be understood by those in other places 
it is placed on a 40-quart can basis. Twenty tickets for 20-quart 
cans sold for $1.50 is at the rate of 7-J cents per can, or 15 cents per 
40-quart can. Fifteen cents will pay for transportation of 40 quarts 
of milk on the Pennsylvania division of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
from all points less than 60 miles from the city, where the cans are not 
transferred at junction points; in this case 5 cents extra is charged. 
The same price is charged on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wash- 
ington division, from all points less than 30 miles; on the United 
Railroads of New Jersey division, from Bristol, Langhorne (32.3 
miles), Burlington, N. J., Mount Holly, N. J. (19.1 miles), and inter- 
mediate points; on the West Jersey and Seashore division, from all 
points (the extremes from which milk is shipped are 38 and 51 miles) : 
on the Baltimore and Ohio, from all points from which milk is 
shipped, none being over 43 miles; on the Philadelphia and Reading, 
from points as far out as Newtown (26.3 miles), Rushland (26 miles') . 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 51 

North Wales (22.5 miles). Valley Forge (24 miles): and on the 
Philadelphia and Reading, over Baltimore and Ohio, less than 80 
miles. 

Twenty cents will pay for transportation of 40 quarts of milk 
on the Pennsylvania division of the Pennsylvania Railroad from 
points within GO miles where there is a transfer; on the Philadelphia, 
Baltimore and Washington division, from points between 30 and 50 
miles; on the United Railroads of New Jersey division, from all 
points from which milk is shipped beyond those in 15-cent class above; 
on the Philadelphia and Reading, from all points from which milk is 
shipped beyond those in the 15-cent class above (except for long dis- 
tance as shown below) . Twenty-five cents will pay for transportation 
of 40 quarts of milk on the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington 
division of the Penns)dvania Railroad for distances between 50 and 
75 miles, but little milk is shipped from these distances. The same 
statement will apply to shipments between GO and 90 miles on the 
Pennsylvania division. The rate is also 25 cents between Hights- 
town and Lewiston, N. J., but this is a 20-cent rate plus 5 cents for 
transfer. 

The rate for cream is double the rate for milk. Two milk tickets 
are required on a cream can. 

Three and a half million quarts, or about 3.6 per cent of the city 
supply, comes long distances over the Philadelphia and Reading 
road. This milk dispatch consists of three or four cars which run 
on a. fast freight without refrigeration facilities. The milk is way- 
billed the same as other freight, and the rates are : On milk from 
Lebanon Valley and Shippensburg, respectively, for 20 quarts, 20 and 
21 cents ; for 40 quarts, 30 and 32 cents ; on cream, 20 quarts, 30 and 
82 J cents; 40 quarts, 50 and 55 cents. 

Ten million quarts, or about 9 per cent of the supply, is received 
from New York State from about ten shipping stations. These sta- 
tions are owned by seven Philadelphia dealers. This milk comes on 
the Lehigh Valley road with the train for New York City to Bethle- 
hem, where the train is divided, part going to New York and the rest 
to Philadelphia. The most remote car starts from Fairhaven, on 
Lake Ontario, 353 miles from Philadelphia. This milk comes in 
the usual type of New York milk cars, provided with refrigeration 
facilities in the summer. 

TIME OF STARTING— ARRIVAL. 

The near-by railroad milk (about 81 per cent of the whole) starts 
from the country at the terminal points of the several branches or 
divisions from 5.30 to 6.30 o'clock in the morning and arrives at the 
milk stations in the city at from 7 to 9 o'clock, much of it being on the 



52 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

road only two hours, and some even less. This short run accounts 
for the lack of special cars and refrigerating facilities. The shippers 
and railroads claim that if the milk is properly cooled by the pro- 
ducer and then promptly put on ice by the dealer in the city it can 
not suffer deterioration during the short time it is in transportation. 

The long-distance railroad milk reaches the city about midnight. 
The Philadelphia and Reading train leaves for the city early in the 
afternoon. The car which starts from Fairhaven, N. Y., leaves at 
6.30 in the morning. 

The milk which arrives in the forenoon is taken to the milk depots 
of the dealers for bottling, if to be sold in bottles, and all is put on 
ice for delivery the next morning. The long-distance milk is taken 
from the cars for more speedy delivery the same morning. The 
trains which collect milk from near-by as well as distant stations 
take both morning milk and milk of the previous evening. Milk 
produced over 300 miles from the city and that produced within 20 
miles is delivered to the consumer at the same time. One large 
dealer who has both near-by and distant milk claims that the milk 
coming 200 and 300 miles reaches the city in as good condition as 
milk produced nearer, for the reason that it has thorough refrigera- 
tion in transit, and extra precaution is taken in its production and 
preparation for transportation. 

The milk business in which Philadelphia is concerned has practi- 
cally no wholesalers; that is, there is practically no milk sold by 
dealers to be sold again, except in the case of a few grocers. All 
dealers, except grocers and provision storekeepers who handle milk, 
buy of the farmers direct and then go to the train for their supplies 
each forenoon as soon as the train is due. The nearest approach to a 
middleman is a broker or agent at some stations. Sometimes, if a 
farmer wants to take up the milk-shipping business and has no 
customer, he consigns his supply to this broker, who disposes of the 
product to the best advantage, usually on the platform at the rail- 
road ; he has no teams, cans, or storage facilities. When the smaller 
dealers occasionally want a little extra milk, they can get it of this 
broker. 

THE PHILADELPHIA MILK DEPOTS. 

Most of the Philadelphia milk is received at three railroad stations, 
one across the river in Camden and two in the city. At each of the 
city stations — Thirty-first and Chestnut streets and Third and Berk 
streets — there is a long shed with platforms where the milk is unloaded 
and the cars again filled with empty cans, and where the dealers 
handle their milk. Wagons of every conceivable style and condition 
as regards paint and cleanliness can be found standing at the plat- 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 53 

forms of these stations. The greater part of these have canopy tops. 
Many are covered with signs and advertisements. The word 
"Alderney " is popular for advertising milk in Philadelphia. 

The scene is decidedly animated at these stations when a train is in. 
Flitting among the men and cans is an occasional officer of the city 
health department or an agent of the dealers' association taking sam- 
ples, the former for the enforcement of the law and the latter for the 
information and protection of the dealers who cooperate in this work. 
The inspector has a utensil which stirs the milk by means of a broad 
flange and takes a sample at the same time. 

THE CAMDEN MILK DEPOT. 

At Camden, N. J., 28,300,000 quarts of milk were received in 1903. 
Of this amount, 3,400,000 quarts were for Camden and the remainder 
for Philadelphia. The statistics relating to Philadelphia are exclu- 
sively for the municipality and do not include suburban territory. 
The freight rate on the New Jersey milk is to Philadelphia, which is 
reached by ferry across the Delaware River from Camden. The milk 
is delivered to the dealers at Camden, but they are given free tickets 
across the ferry, which is controlled by the railroad company. The 
number of milk teams crossing the ferry in 1903 was 32,297 one-horse, 
8,455 two-horse, and 1,331 three-horse or four-horse — a total of 42,083, 
and a daily average of 115. It will be noticed that the one-horse 
wagons are in the majority. This also indicates the proportion of 
small dealers in the business, all of whom buy direct from the farm- 
ers. The cars come in mostly on one track, parallel with the tracks 
in the passenger station, and on one side of the station building. The 
milk-car track has a shed of its own, the cars running in on one side, 
while the wagons back up on the other. The shed is 500 feet long, 
and, during the busiest day of the summer of 1904, 109,900 quarts 
were handled. The daily number of cars is about 16. 

The conditions described at Camden are similar to those at the 
railway station in the city except that the latter are not so near the 
passenger depot and the milk cars can not be removed from the pas- 
senger trains quite so conveniently. 

RECEIVING STATIONS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF BOSTON. 

The Boston milk-receiving stations are situated on spur tracks of 
the railroads, under control by ownership or lease of the milk compa- 
nies, and they include large buildings, with executive and business 
offices as well as an abundance of facilities for handling milk at whole- 
sale and retail, including mixers, refrigerators, storage tanks, butter- 
making outfit, bottling machinery, etc. In some cases the mixing 



54 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

tank is placed in the car and the milk poured into it and pumped to 
coolers and refrigerator tanks on an upper floor, thus economizing 
labor to a great extent. 

At Philadelphia the method is quite different. At the railroads 
there is no outlay for handling milk except the sidetrack with a shed 
overhead, as in the case of any freight track. Here the cars are 
switched, each car having milk possibly for a score of different 
dealers. To these sheds come all the milk peddlers of the city in 
every conceivable style of vehicle. There is a busv time unloading 
these cars and sorting out each dealer's milk, getting it on his wagon, 
and loading into the cars the empty cans. This work is supervised 
by an official of the railroad, who has a gang of men under him 
to help in the work. Some of the largest dealers (reported to 
handle as high as 21,000 quarts per day) are there with their three- 
horse wagons, which hold 100 40-quart cans each. The small dealer 
who handles only two cans is also on hand with his small delivery 
wagon. The Philadelphia system is extremely democratic. The 
smallest has equal privileges with the largest. 

PLACES OF THE DEALERS. 

While the Philadelphia system requires that all but the very small- 
est dealers have a place of business for mixing, bottling, and stor- 
ing milk, in New York much of the bottled milk for the family 
trade is bottled in the country, and a dealer can do a large busi- 
ness with no other city facilities than a stable and a counting 
room, the large loads from the railroads being shifted to the 
smaller delivery wagons in the stables without opening can or bot- 
tle. In Philadelphia, after the dealer has hauled his day's supply 
from the railroad to his place of business, his day's work is only just 
commenced. Then begins the mixing, cooling, bottling, icing, and 
loading for the next morning's delh T ery. These Philadelphia milk 
depots, scattered all over the city, present a great variety of condi- 
tions and keep the board of health busy with inspections; even then 
the conditions are far from ideal. There are some large dealers, 
veterans in the business, who have establishments which are all that 
could be required, while others are far from perfect. 

The writer visited a milk depot fitted up in the basement of a resi- 
dence. The milk was unloaded from a three-horse wagon onto the 
sidewalk, from which it was lowered to the basement by a small ele- 
vator. In the basement were all the ajDpliances for mixing, bottling, 
and icing the milk and cream. The basement floor was of cement 
and well drained, and the premises clean. When the milk had been 
transferred from the wagon to the cellar, the sidewalk was scrubbed 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 55 

with soap and hot water. In a rear room was a separator and churn 
for working up any surplus. The front room on the street floor was 
fitted up for a retail trade in milk and cream. The other portion of 
the building was used by the family. Here for the first time the 
writer saw quarter-pint bottles of cream, Avhich retail for 7 cents, 
and seem to be in much favor in that locality. Another dealer's 
place of business occupied an entire building. It was a large estab- 
lishment fitted with a wide range of machinery — pasteurizer, churn, 
separator, bottler, bottle washer, and artificial-ice plant; but the 
place had a dingy appearance, and although the floors were of 
cement, there was much woodwork which was badly watersoaked and 
somewhat musty. 

CANS IN RELATION TO PRICES. 

Comparison of the prices received for milk by producers supply- 
ing different markets is difficult because of the varying conditions. 
For example, the producers supplying the Philadelphia market not 
only pay the freight directly by a ticket on each can, as explained 
elsewhere, but also furnish the cans in which the milk is transported 
to the city. Consequently, to get at the net returns received by the 
farmers supplying the Philadelphia market the cost of the freight 
and the wear and tear on the cans must be deducted. In the case 
of the Boston supply, all cans are furnished by the wholesalers, and 
in the case of the New York supply the farmers' cans are used only 
for taking the milk from the farm to the railroad shipping station, 
being all the time under the personal care of the farmer or his agent. 
But in the Philadelphia milk supply the farmers' cans are loaded 
on the cars, go to the city, are hauled from the railroad station to 
the dealer's place of business, and then go back over the route again. 
Thus these cans are subjected to destructive wear, and the expense 
of maintaining cans in a large dairy must be considerable. It is 
this fact of the individual ownership of cans that leads to less uni- 
formity in size and shape than in other places, and to the use in some 
instances of cans that are badly worn and quite rusty, while some 
of the covers are so dilapidated that perfect cleaning is impossible. 

There has been some discussion between the producers and deal- 
ers as to the return of the cans in a clean condition, and the pro- 
ducers have at times attempted to secure legislation regarding this. 
The contention of the dealers is that the ordinary rules of business, 
applicable to all products, require the seller of any product to fur- 
nish a suitable package for its transportation. In some instances 
the dealers rinse the cans before returning them. The writer has 
seen cans rinsed at the railroad platform, the rinsings from one can 
being turned into a second, and so on through the whole number in 
the custody of the dealer. 



56 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

SHIPPING TAGS. 

The shipping tags on the milk cans are all arranged so that the 
night's and morning's milk may be distinguished. The tag can be 
divided at a perforated line and the part remaining on the can 
shows the age of the milk, while the other portion can go to book- 
keeper or checking clerk, as desired. 

THE PHILADELPHIA MILK EXCHANGE. 

The Philadelphia Milk Exchange is an incorporated organization 
of dealers which handles the greater part of the milk received and 
sold in the city. These dealers consider matters of mutual interest. 
Such topics as enforcement of laws, insurance, stray cans, hours of 
Sunday work, etc., are discussed. Once a month the members meet 
to consider the price of milk for the coming month. After noting 
the market conditions, they determine what is a fair price, endeavor- 
ing to do justice to all concerned, but looking at matters, of course, 
from the dealer's standpoint. The price decided upon by the asso- 
ciation is then paid to farmers supplying the milk. A representa- 
tive of the producers' association has met with the exchange on a 
few occasions to fix the price, but the conference resulted in a failure 
to agree, and since then the exchange has fixed its own price. There 
have been some attempts at consolidation of the larger concerns in 
accordance with the spirit of the times, but they have never suc- 
ceeded, largely on account of the unpopularity of " trusts." 

BOTTLING AND STORING DEPOTS. 

As already stated, the milk arrives in the city at 8 to 9.30 in the 
morning, as a rule, and large customers, who buy by the can, are fre- 
quently supplied at once, but most of the milk is carried to the place 
of business of the dealer, where it is bottled and, in the summer, 
placed on ice until the next morning. One estimate is that probably 
75 per cent of the milk for the family trade is bottled. This milk 
is delivered at from 3 to 7 o'clock in the morning. On the second trip 
of the dealers a little " dipped " milk is sold to families who call for 
extra milk. 

With such a large number of dealers of all nationalities and con- 
ditions the sanitary conditions in the bottling depots are naturally 
varied, but the board of health makes a systematic inspection of these 
places, and where the conditions are too bad and the dealers are per- 
sistent in their neglect to make improvements the board puts a stop 
to the business. The better class of dealers, who have more capital 
and larger interests at stake and a good reputation to maintain, vol- 
untarily keep their establishments up to a high sanitary state; they 
consider this necessary to success in their business. 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. 57 

RULES FOR PRODUCERS. 

There are no general rules for all the farmers as to the care of the 
milk. This is largely a personal matter with each dealer. Those 
who have a fine class of trade for a good quality of milk are compelled 
to be particular with the producers if they are to hold their trade. 

Below are copies of two circulars sent out by dealers to their. pro- 
ducers : 

Directions fob the Care of Mile 

Remove the milk of every cow from the dairy at once to a clean, dry room, 
where the air is pure and sweet. Do not allow cans to remain in the stables 
while they are being filled. Strain the milk through a metal gauze and a 
flannel cloth. 

AERATE AND COOL THE MILK AS SOON AS STRAINED. 

The rapid aeration and cooling of milk are matters of great importance. 
Combined aerators and coolers, suitable for use with well water or ice water, 
can be had at any dairy-supply house at a small cost. By using one of these, 
the cow odor, the animal heat, and much of the dirt can be removed from milk 
in a few minutes. 

The milk should be cooled to 45° if for shipment, or to 60° if for home use 
or delivery to a factory. Never mix fresh, warm milk with that which has 
been cooled. 

DO NOT ALLOW THE MILK TO FREEZE. 

When cans are hauled a distance, they should be full and carried in a spring 
wagon. In hot weather cover the cans, when moved in a wagon, with a clean 
wet blanket or canvas. 

If milk is stored, it should be held in tanks of fresh cold water, renewing 
daily in a clean, cold, dry room. Clean all dairy utensils by first thoroughly 
rinsing them in warm water ; then clean inside and out with a brush and hot 
water in which a cleansing material is dissolved ; then rinse, and lastly sterilize 
by boiling water or steam. Use pure water only. 

After cleaning, keep the utensils inverted in pure air and sun, if possible, 
until wanted for use. Old cans, in which parts of the tin are worn off, or 
where there are seams and cracks, are impossible to keep clean and should not 
be employed. 

Philadelphia, May 1, 190-, 
Dear Sir : We wish to caution you about grassy milk, as it is very objection- 
able to most people and causes much trouble and loss of sale, therefore we urge 
the utmost care in turning out cattle to grass. The first day they should be 
allowed to stay out a very short while ; then increase the time limit a little 
each day until the effect wears off and the cow's system becomes used to the 
change of diet. 

Watch for garlic, as it entirely spoils milk and cream for sale. Always use 
an aerator, winter and summer, and ice, when necessary, so as to get tem- 
perature of milk down to 40 or 50 degrees. See that your tins are in good 



58 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

condition and cleanly. Get the best strainer possible, as sediment Is very 
unpleasant in milk. 

If yon will observe the foregoing rules, many of the evils of the milk business 
can be corrected. 

Very respectfully, . 

use or ICE. 

The use of ice is increasing, particularly in the level districts of 
New Jersey. In the hilly portions of Pennsylvania the producers 
depend to a considerable extent on the old-time spring houses, where 
the milk is cooled by running spring water of a temperature of some 
52° to 54° F. These spring houses are " hold-overs " from old 
butter-making days. In some instances there is too much decaying 
wood about them to make them ideal. Dealers try to have the milk 
delivered at the station at from 55° to 60° F., and a few attempt to 
have the farmers cool it down to 52° or 53° F. 

GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE MILK BUSINESS IN THE COUNTRY. 

For conveying the milk to the railroad stations the farmers use any 
farm wagons which they may happen to have. More mules are 
used for draft purposes than are seen in connection with the New 
York or Boston supply. The milk for the most part reaches the 
station only a few minutes before the train is due, and it is not many 
minutes from the farmer's wagon to the car. 

The average dairy contains from 15 to 20 cows and produces from 
80 to 120 quarts of milk daily. Some of the big dairies produce 
from 300 to 400 quarts of milk daily. 

One of the great drawbacks to the business in Philadelphia, as 
elsewhere, is uneven production. Sometimes when there is a surplus, 
producers are asked to hold back one day's supply every seventh day. 
There is a large seashore demand from the New Jersey resorts, and 
this helps to even up the supply on the Philadelphia market. It is 
claimed that there is now a tendency among the farmers to more even 
production. One dealer said that many farmers who once produced, 
for instance, 160 quarts per day in the summer, and 40 in the winter, 
now produce 160 in the summer and 80 in the winter. The average 
farmer's haul was variously estimated at from 1-J to 2^ miles, with 
probably about 4 miles as the maximum. There are receiving stations 
in the country for handling most of the supply of long-distance milk. 

One exception may be mentioned to the usual way of doing busi- 
ness. One dealer had a shipping station at which deliveries were 
made twice a day, the milk being brought in while still warm and 
promptly cooled and aerated at the station. 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YOKK, PHILADELPHIA. 59 

WORK OF THE PHILADELPHIA PEDIATRIC SOCIETY. 

The Philadelphia Pediatric Society is, as the name implies, an 
association of Philadelphia physicians who are especially interested 
in the treatment of diseases of children. It was organized in 1895 
for hearing and discussing papers on the disorders of children. A 
society with such a mission naturally early in its history consid- 
ered the milk question, and in 1898 a committee was appointed to take 
some definite steps looking to securing better milk for babies (par- 
ticularly those who were not strong) than could be obtained from 
the ordinary milk dealer. This committee submitted its report, which 
was accepted, and the scheme suggested was under way in 1900. This 
organization proceeded on the theory that the best milk for infant 
feeding is natural untreated milk from healthy cows, produced under 
sanitary conditions, and absolutely sweet and clean. The committee 
having this matter in charge is known as the " Milk Commission of 
the Philadelphia Pediatric Society." The work is done gratuitously 
for the sake of improving the milk supply, the only expense being 
for inspection, which is paid by the dairies inspected. The regula- 
tions call for the periodical examination of the health of the cows, 
the cleanliness of the dairy, the care and cleanliness observed in milk- 
ing, the care of the utensils used, the nature and quality of the food, 
and the health of the employees on the farm. In more detail, this 
means that the cows must be tested with tuberculin, the stables must 
have an abundance of light, there must be some satisfactory system 
of Ventilation, the dairy room must be free from stable odors, the 
stable gutters must be frequently cleaned, and the cows must be kept 
dry and clean; the stables must be so constructed that they can be 
kept clean at all times, the water supply must be pure, the dairy room 
must have a sterilizer for bottles and other utensils, and the milk must 
be immediately cooled and bottled in a room apart from the stable 
and free from odor and dust. 

The milk which results from this care is regularly examined chem- 
ically and bacteriologically to ascertain if all of the requirements as 
to health and cleanliness have been met and to see that there is no 
adulteration. It must range from 1.029 to 1.034 specific gravity, be 
neutral or faintly acid in reaction, contain between 3.5 and 4.5 per 
cent proteid, from 4 to 5 per cent sugar, and not less than 3.5 per cent 
fat; it must be free from all contaminating foreign matter and from 
all addition of chemical substances or coloring matter. It must 
further be free from pus and injurious germs and have not more than 
10,000 bacteria of any kind to the cubic centimeter. If milk meets 
all these conditions a certificate is issued. Cream is also certified to 
as to the amount of fat, and in the case of cream a bacterial limit of 



(U> BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

2 5.000 is allowed. These certificates are issued each month and are 
good for that month only. If at any time the inspections show im- 
perfect conditions, or if the milk in any way fails to come up to the 
standard, the certificates are withheld for the following month. The 
certificates read as follows : 

Philadelphia Pediatric Society. 
Milk commission certificate. 

, 1905. 



Milk from the dairy of has been recently examined by the 

experts of the milk commission and found to be fully up to the required 
standards. Another examination will be mude within a month and, if satis- 
factory, new labels for the bottles will be issued, dated , 1905. 

Notice the dates. 

A facsimile of one of the certificates, printed in small size, accom- 
panies each bottle of milk, either pasted over the mouth of the jar or 
otherwise attached to it. 

When these regulations and this standard were adopted, the dairy- 
men of the city were invited to avail themselves of the advantages 
offered by the society. The circular which was issued stated : 

If you do not wish to have your milk so examined, the commission does noth- 
ing prejudicial to your interests ; but it is believed that it would be to the 
advantage of the physicians and the better class of milk producers to "have some 
such method of examination under the supervision of a committee appointed 
by the society, composed of physicians interested in the welfare and treatment 
of children. 

Thus the matter of milk examination is entirely voluntary and no 
dairyman is obliged to enter into the scheme or to continue in it. 

When the plan was broached it suggested considerable extra ex- 
pense, with the uncertainty of getting any additional income. Conse- 
quently less than half a dozen dairies asked to have their milk 
certified. But those who did take up the matter found that there 
was a demand for that kind of milk, and the amount of milk and 
cream certified has gradually increased until at the present time the 
commission is putting out over 113,000 certificates per month, which 
represents the product of over 400 cows. This growth is regarded 
as satisfactory by the commission and the reputation of the plan is 
spreading, and inquiries concerning it are frequently received, some 
of them coming from foreign countries. One gratifying feature of 
the plan is its popularity with the public. Those who use this certi- 
fied milk are perfectly willing to pay the extra price required. The 
interest in the measure is evidenced by the fact that if for any reason 
the certificate of any dairy is withheld, the fact is noticed at once by 
many consumers and inquiries are at once made of the commission 
as to the cause of the nonappearance of the certificate. In noting 



MILK SUPPLY OF BOSTON, NEW YOKK, PHILADELPHIA. 61 

the few claiiy men who have adopted the plan of supplying certified 
milk it should be remembered that the standard is very high, because 
the prime object of the Pediatric Society is to get the best unpasteur- 
ized milk possible for infant feeding, rather than to raise the quality 
of the general city supply. 

DESCRIPTION OF A CERTIFIED MILK DAIRY. 

One dairy which has built up its business exclusively on the certi- 
fied advertisement was visited by the writer. One hundred and 
fifty-five cows are milked. The cows are grade Guernseys and Hol- 
steins. The cow barns are one story high, with monitor roof for 
ventilation. Windows are numerous, and the place fairly glistens 
with bright whitewash. The stanchions and all the supporting 
framework are of iron pipe. The floor is of cement. As each cow 
is milked the milk is taken to an adjoining room, where an attendant 
weighs it, makes a record of the weight, and turns the milk into a 40- 
quart can. As soon as this is filled it is transported by a cable carrier 
to the dairy building. The interior of the dairy room is entirely of 
cement, including floors, walls, and ceiling. Screens keep out all 
flies. The dairy room is also fitted with all needed appliances for 
washing and sterilizing the bottles before milk is put into them. 
The sinks are of soapstone. The cooler hangs in the middle of the 
dairy room. There are no corners or angles to catch or conceal dirt, 
and everything is spotlessly clean. 

Here the milk is cooled and bottled, the bottles placed in boxes 
holding one dozen each, and packed in ice. It leaves the farm at 9.35 
p. m. and reaches the city at 11 p. m. The delivery begins about 3 
in the morning. This dairy has its own teams and men in the city, 
so that the whole process of production and delivery is under its 
control. 

When the milk is bottled the usual pasteboard cap is placed over 
the top of the bottle, then the certificate of the Pediatric Society is 
placed over that, and a round piece of parchment paper 5J inches in 
diameter is placed over the whole and held in place by a rubber band. 
On the top of the bottle the name of the dairy and the inscription 
" Five per cent butter fat " or " Four per cent butter fat," as the 
case may be, are in plain sight. Cream is put up in the same way, 
with a label " Sixteen per cent butter fat " or " Twenty-five per cent 
butter fat," as the case may be. This milk retails in Philadelphia 
for 12 cents per quart, or 7 cents per pint. It retails in Atlantic City 
in the summer for 16 cents per quart. It is sometimes claimed in 
other places that the public is not educated to know the different 
values df different grades of milk, but the customers of the dairy are 
very quick to note the fact and complain if by accident a driver may 



62 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

happen to deliver a can of 4 per cent milk instead of 5 per cent. 
Both kinds, however, are retailed at the same price, as the managers 
claim that there is no difference in the cost of production. 

This milk is regularly tested for bacteria, and usually ranges be- 
tween 500 and 1,000 per cubic centimeter. In exceptional cases the 
number rises to 5,000. But the Pediatric Society allows 10,000. In 
this connection it is interesting to note, for purposes of comparison, 
that the Boston Board of Health has made a standard for the general 
supply of that city of 500,000. 



o 



LfiFe '07 



